Forsyth County renovates historic Matt Schoolhouse for new use

Forsyth County reopened the Matt Schoolhouse Community Building at 5710 Namon Wallace Road in Cumming on May 12, turning a 1940s schoolhouse into a site for Therapeutic Recreation, recycling staff offices, community space and voting. The fully renovated building now includes multi-use program rooms, a community room with a stage and an outdoor patio.

The project started with a purchase in 2021 of the 8,100-square-foot building, followed by asbestos and mold abatement before any construction work began. Forsyth County put the renovation out for public bid on Oct. 31, 2024, with bids due Dec. 5, 2024, then began renovating the structure in 2025. The work carried an initial cost of about $2.6 million, funded by Capital Outlay, and commissioners added roughly $150,000 more in upgrades in January, pushing the cumulative estimate to about $4 million. That works out to roughly $494 a square foot on the county’s current estimate.

The building’s history reaches back to 1945, when the original Matt school opened and served 75 students in multiple grades until 1968. The Matt community was named after Matison Martin, and students at the old school sat on slab benches around an open fireplace and got water from a nearby spring. Matt Elementary later opened in 2001 with about 600 students to relieve overcrowding in northwest Forsyth County. Barbara Hamby, who attended school at the facility in her youth, spoke at the ribbon cutting.

District 4 Commissioner Mendy Moore said the schoolhouse is "more than just a building" and should again serve as a place where the community gathers. Parks & Recreation Director Kirk Franz said it is now a place where "individuals of all abilities will build friendships, confidence, skills and memories."

Forsyth County will house offices for the Department of Recycling & Solid Waste and serve as a voting precinct. The Matt Schoolhouse Community Building is also the polling place for a proposed new Matt (53) precinct, part of a change that would affect about 11,200 voters and bring Forsyth County to 30 Election Day precincts and polling places.