By Clint Confehr
LAWRENCEBURG, TN — A new roof is proposed for West Gaines School, closed since integration, now seen as a prospective community center with help starting on the county level.
“We don’t want to give them something that’s not dried-in and just going to deteriorate,” Lawrence County Executive David Morgan said late last week, adding, “We’re still trying to figure out some of the deeding issues.”
From 1937 to 1964, West Gaines School was where Black students were educated here during segregation. Thereafter, it was used for public offices and storage. Now, it needs stabilization. Advocates for its reuse as an educational center have been working toward that for years.
With community and local leaders’ support, West Gaines School Community Center Inc. President James Wallace and Morgan are working to protect the building. That includes budgetary steps toward transfer of several pieces of surplus government property by sale or gift.
“They’re probably going to work through things so it may not cost the county anything,” Wallace said. “They’ve got some properties that they’ve got to get rid of, and so, they’d use that money to put a roof on it.”
The building on West Gains Street is about a 4-minute walk from Morgan’s office, less from where county commissioners meet.
West Gaines School Community Center Inc. has been accepting donations including Sunday offerings last month. The group has raised nearly $20,000 for interior renovations and insurance, Wallace said. Morgan said the public-private project could lead to the property being: placed on a register of historic places; and established as a clubhouse for boys and girls, an after-school study hall, and a museum.
Leaders consulted with State Historian Dr. Carroll Van West, director of the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University, Wallace said. Based on remarks from the MTSU history professor and his staffers, Wallace said “The bones of the building are good. The gym part of the building is not hurt at all. It’s the front part of it that is in the worst state.”
Morgan said he believes at least three bids are required for any county contract over $25,000.
“I’m estimating the roof is going to cost about $40,000,” Morgan said. The county executive’s construction trades experience is as an electrician, so he offered a “layman’s estimate” for: “a metal roof; new soffits around the edges; and all the wood facia … wrapped in aluminum. I’m assuming they’ll do some reconfiguring” of rooms.
Asked when that and the transfer might be completed, Morgan said his goal is to be done “before Oct. 1.”
If that timeline works, the county executive, who’s pastored a church in Lawrenceburg, said they “could have a Thanksgiving in there where all parties and different races come together to celebrate the fact that we’re getting this project going.”
Wallace said he hopes that the roof and building transfer will lead to the award of financial grants “specifically for things like this.”
Clean-up crews recently improved the property, he said. “I think the county will see something happening and people will become enthused.”
Community statesmen — including: immediate past County Executive TR Williams; Society American Nosherie proprietor Jason Grayson; parishioners at First Church and St. John’s United Methodist Church; area residents who attended a fundraiser at Barry Houges Park; and state Rep. Clay Doggett — are an indication of support for building renovation. Wallace said he spoke with state Rep. Kip Capley before the 2022 election and plans to reach-out again. Capley’s district includes part of what Doggett represented before redistricting.
West Gaines School “was built for children and you want to keep that concept,” Wallace said. “We haven’t gotten there, but I’m very optimistic that we’ll get there.”
