CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Two former Charlotte teachers filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission after claiming their attempts to buy the historic Torrence-Lytle School in Huntersville were denied while white buyers were offered lower prices.
Tyson and Regina Bates attempted to buy the historic school, which was among the first for Black students in Charlotte, as part of an expansion of their summer camp program. The couple said they wanted to make Torrence-Lytle an affordable private school for underserved students from around the Charlotte area.
According to the lawsuit, the Commission required them to submit multiple proposals and provide extensive financial statements, architectural plans and modified the terms of the deal to raise the price. The couple says the Commission offered lower prices to white-owned groups and didn't require significant down payments or extensive financial documents.
The Bates, who are both graduates of Johnson C. Smith University, claim they made offers to the Commission and actually had the property under contract twice before they were ultimately turned down. The lawsuit alleges the Commission tried to sell the property to various white-owned groups with a "markedly different" standard for the couple.
The Commission approved the decision to sell the property in May 2012, less than a decade after taking over the property. The Bates contacted Dan Morrill of the Historic Landmarks Commission in January of 2016 with interest in buying the property. According to the suit, the Commission informed the Bates of additional requirements necessary for them to be considered for ownership.
About a month later, in February of 2016, the Bates told Morrill they planned to move forward with the purchase and requested an offer to buy the school by March 2016. By August, the Commission was in agreement with the Bates to sell the property for $147,749 before requiring even more documentation in January 2017.
"The Bates were offered a purchase price of the property ranging from $147,000 to $424,000, versus offers of $285,000 to Jolly Dale, an interested white buyer, with no ties to the community, and no direct plans for the property," the suit states.
Torrence-Lytle is located in an area of Huntersville that's historically known as Pottstown. It was originally known as Huntersville Colored School and housed students from first grade through 11th grade. It opened with seven rooms and housed 181 students.
After closing in 1966, the Torrence-Lytle gym has been used as a recreation center for the Town of Huntersville with the rest of the campus being used as storage space for Mecklenburg County.
Mecklenburg County issued a statement to WCNC Charlotte saying, "The County cannot comment on any potential legal matter."