Central Does it Again!

By Mia Freneaux
    Yesterday the Central Cultural Foundation handed a check for $10,000 to the Central Community School System, in compliance with the request made by the School Board at their September 8th meeting.  At that meeting, Dr. David Walker made the motion that citizens interested in saving the “old gym” collect the money as a sign of good faith and deliver it by September 17.  
    The money is to be held by the school board for the next 6 months.  If, after that time, the citizens involved with saving the gym have met all the requirements of the school board (yet to be revealed), the money will be returned to the renovation effort.  If the citizens fail to meet the requirements, the money will be used to demolish the gym. 
    The “Old Gym”, it has been discovered, was actually built to be the “Central School Auditorium”.  It was adapted for additional use as a gym a short time later.  For this reason the preservation effort will now be called “Save the Central School Auditorium”.
    Comments from those who were involved in this effort included:
“Buildings like this anchor a community and give it something to be proud of.  Please do not tear this building down in the name of modernity.  A community often doesn’t know what they have lost until it is too late.”
“I am sure Hurricane Katrina destroyed enough history.  Please preserve this history for future generations.”
“I graduated from Central on the steps of this building several hours after the picture on the petition was taken in 1948.  Some things of the past need to be preserved in order to remind us where we came from.”
“Let’s keep a little of our FINE history for our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to enjoy!”
    Along with these impassioned pleas came offers of labor, materials, and yearly donations.
    The Central Cultural Foundation voted to spearhead this effort, and is now focused on obtaining funding and organizing volunteers.  Are you interested in being a part of history?  Call the CCF at 413-1616 or leave a message on the facebook site.