What exactly is this facility in Independent Hill? It looks like a former military installation, complete with old (and apparently unused) housing along the northern side. It's surrounded by chain link fence, but no barbed wire, but has 24 hour security and a gate house and looks pretty locked up day and night. I've wondered about it for decades now.

It's the PWC Schools Administration buildings. You're hired there for all positions in the school system, training is there. Further on the lot behind the gates, county vehicles are repaired.

This is what you see from the road, explains what it use to be.

http://www.radomes.org/museum/recent/ManassasAFSVA.html

Thanks a million, Moose! Mystery solved. We had all sorts of outlandish theories of what the place was. Always figured it had been a Marine installation, never figured it was former USAF.

I've worked there for almost 30 years. It did house the administrators for PWC Schools, and it was where they hired most (but not all) of the school employees, but due to the growing size of PW the employee number has grown as well and they were out growing the older smaller buildings, so they built the Kelly Leadership Building on Bristow to move them into. Many of the departments still work on the older grounds on Joplin. The Independent Hill School for Special Needs is located there and the small houses on the corner are not empty, they use to house AF officer's families back in the day, but it has been the P.A.C.E. East School which stands for Positive Attitude, Commitment thought Education for close to 20 years. This is a school for troubled teens that are no longer allowed to attend their neighboring schools. The fences around the compound and the gate house make it look “locked upâ€, but really it only is at night. And in case you didn’t know, not just the Independent Hill facility has 24/7 security, but all our schools do, they just aren’t as obvious. I always say when on any school grounds, inside or out, “smile, you’re on camera.†Our children and tax payers’ investments are well protected.

Thank You. I didn't know about the Kelly Leadership Building, but did indeed drive out that way the other day and saw it. Very nice, indeed.