Although work has begun on demolishing the Donaghmore Road building, after the Tyrone Times revealed its shocking state of disrepair, confusion is growing around the identity of the site's owners.
Despite investigations made by the Tyrone Times and a Dungannon Councillor, it has not been possible to confirm exactly who will determine what happens to the prime development site.
However, it appears that the Department of Education and Dungannon Parish Board of Trustees will have a say in the plans.
Now that the property boom has come to a juddering halt residents fear that the site will remain an 'unsightly pile of rubble' for as long as the confusion remains.
"This is an important site and should be used as a focal point for the whole community", said Patsy Begley, who has lived next-door to the building since it was constructed during the early 1960s.
"Our fear is that it will now became a focus for anti-social behaviour."
SDLP Councillor Vincent Currie said he did not want to see the trustees repeat the mistakes made by the owners of a commercial site on Anne Street, which lay derelict and rat-infested for years.
"This site has great potential and should be developed accordingly. This would be an ideal location for social housing and would help give the local economy a boost.
"There are almost 900 people on the housing waiting list in the Dungannon District, and we have thousands of people jobless in the construction and engineering sectors."
Independent Republican Councillor Barry Monteith has also said that plans should be put into place as a matter of urgency and that the local community should be consulted.
A relative of one of the victims of the Hillcrest bomb, which was detonated opposite the school, said he hoped the memorial plaque would remain in place whatever the plans for the site.
The Southern Education and Library Board has already removed itself from the debate by saying that it came into existence after the school was built, and that ownership of the grounds had not been transferred to it.
It was then suggested that the owner of the site might be the Department of the Education.
However, a spokesperson for the department said: "The site of the former school is the responsibility of the Trustees who are the owners of the site and are responsible for any future use."
While confirming that the trustees were the local Catholic parish, he added that the department was involved in discussions with regards to the site's future use.
It has also emerged that the original owner of the site may also have a say in any proposals.
Attempts were made to contact Dean Colum Curry to establish the parish's intentions, but at the time of going to press he was unavailable for comment.