The historic, but largely vacant Moore Street School — one of the first built for black children in Richmond — could have a new role as a university-run day care center.

After months of talks and harsh criticism from community advocates about the building’s deteriorating condition, the Richmond School Board is mulling a proposal from Virginia Commonwealth University to make that happen.

The proposal from the VCU School of Education would transform the 19th-century building, attached to the rear of Carver Elementary in the 1100 block of West Leigh Street, into an expansion of the university’s nationally accredited child development program that also serves as a training program for students.

The School of Education currently operates its program in a Floyd Avenue building.

The proposal now before the School Board calls for Richmond Public Schools to give the 1887 building to the city with a request that the city transfer ownership to the VCU School of Education.

The plan is to turn the building into a day care center for at least 100 pre-school children ages 18 months to 5 years old.

According to VCU officials, $3 million to $5 million would be spent to improve the building to serve children of VCU faculty, staff and students, as well as children from the community.

Under the proposed agreement, VCU would earmark at least 48 slots for low-income children from Gilpin Court and the Carver community. VCU would offer a reduced rate to enroll them, with their parents also possibly qualifying for government subsidies for day care.

VCU also would be required to undertake efforts to improve literacy for the children and the adults in their lives, offer financial literacy and workforce programs that could create jobs and provide other programs that increase individual and family well-being, such as couples and relationship education.

The proposal has the support of City Councilwoman Kim B. Gray, 2nd District, who is concerned because months have passed since Dr. Andrew P. Daire, dean of the education school, presented the proposal to RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras.

Ms. Gray expressed concern that the slow pace of talks could lead Dr. Daire and VCU to look for another building, costing RPS and the community the connection with a high-quality, pre- school program.

She considers having VCU occupy the building a win-win solution for the neglected building that the School Board declared as surplus property in 2009, but never officially transferred to the city.

Jerome Legions, president of the Carver Area Civic Improvement League, also is supportive of the VCU plan. Irate about the building’s declining condition, he views VCU as having the resources and ability to preserve and protect one of the oldest school buildings in the city and state and to use it for an educational purpose.