The Saddest School: West Liberty High
The flowers of gold have grown from the tears shed here. For me, the saddest part of Liberty, in my opinion, is the West Liberty High-School known colloquially as "The Old School", in what was once, and often commonly today is still called West Liberty. The school, closed in 1966 and was the newest of the Randolph County's schools at the time. Racial integration occurred, but due to opposition and racism at the time from white residents, the decision was made to bus black students to the older "white" school downtown, rather than have them endeavour into "black" side of town. A million dollar decision that left the Old School, abandoned for all time to whither in time. Today it still sits vacant, untouched since those fateful days in American history where the destiny of this school was determined. By doing so, more than just a high-school that was closed, it "meant a loss of community and pride." ( cite ) It was "devastating.&quo
Liv,
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree! There is so much potential here and the New Urbanism approach would be an extraordinary direction to go. It's time for an upgrade, a revitalization. The two examples you provided would be perfect for this little giant treasure of a village and possibly awaken it and save it from becoming generic...or a ghost town.
I really love your vision and ideas.
-Mecca