After the school closed, Layne Leoffler continued to work on the Bankruptcy case and the closing up of the Academy. In June 1976, a movie production company rented the Academy grounds for 4 weeks to film the movie “Class Reunion Massacre” (also titled “Most Likely To Die” & “The Redeemer – Son of Satan”).

The 850 rifles were sold to the Numerich Arms Corporation for $30,000.

The football equipment was sold to the Manassas Park City Schools for $4,418.

The band equipment was sold to the Augusta County School Board for $2,205.

The rest of the personality (a.k.a. personal property) was sold at a public auction in December of 1976. The buildings and grounds were contracted to be sold to Mary Baldwin College on November 12, 1976. The contract lists 37.5115 acres of land and included 20 buildings. The final price for the Academy grounds and its buildings was $1,120,000. With the sale of the personal property and the closing on the sale of the buildings and grounds, the Staunton Military Academy ceased to exist in the Town of Staunton. However, the name rights of the school still existed and were retained by Layne Leoffler. Layne Leoffler eventually sold the name rights and most of the memorabilia to J. Donald Allen, SMA ’50, in January 1977. Mr. Allen also took charge of the Academic Records of the Academy. It was Mr. Allen’s plan to reopen SMA in a different location. The bankruptcy case was officially closed on June 20, 1977. All of the creditors, both secured and unsecured, had been paid what was due them according to the court. Most were paid in full. Layne Leoffler’s attempt at keeping SMA open had cost him personally over $725,000.

Don Allen looked around Staunton for a suitable location to reopen the school in the area. Not able to find one, he opened the school in a commercial building in Hampton, VA that his CPA firm owned. He commenced the 93rd session of the Academy in September 1977 with 36 cadets, but with no seniors. Mr. Allen realized that the attempt to rescue the school was unsustainable after losing $250,000 operating the school for one year. The school closed again in June 1978.
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