The Greenville News
Monday, October 21, 2002
Greenville, S.C.
Parker group wants to build community around school
By Angelia Davis
STAFF WRITER
The Parker community will lose portions of the historic former high school.
But in return, they want a new Parker Academy that's truly a "showpiece" for the Westside community.
Parker High graduates told executives of Institutional Resources Monday they want to preserve as
much of the high school's history as possible when a new Parker Academy is built by 2004.
"It's unique. It was the first vocational high school in South Carolina. We have literally thousands of
people that want to preserve the history of the high school," said Walter Huff,
president of the Parker High Class of 1951.
Executives of Institutional Resources, the company managing construction projects for the Greenville County School District, met with the community to gather input and hear concerns about plans for a new Parker Academy.
Located off Woodside Avenue, Parker Academy is the campus of the former Parker High.
Brian Stark, an area manager for Institutional Resources, said two of the old Parker
High buildings will be torn down for construction of the new middle school.
The auditorium, which is listed on the National
Registry of Historical sites, will be spared, Stark said. The new 600-capacity school will be constructed behind the existing school and around the auditorim.
School District Trustee Roger Meek questioned why
the auditorium will be the focal point when there are no plans to renovate it.
The executives' reply was that no funds
are available to renovate the building.
"We were assuming at some point and time this would
be renovated. If we were to locate the building to block the vision (of the auditorium)
and it is renovated, what have we accomplished?" Stark said.
Faculty members asked Institutional Resources to find out the cost to renovate.
"We don't want to have an old raggedy building
sitting in the middle of a new school," said Principal Lillie Lewis.
Earlier Lewis told the group, "I don't want us to be
shortchanged. I'm real concerned about that. I know there's
only so much in the budget. "If the auditorium is not renovated and all of
these rooms on the back of the auditorium are not renovated, how is that going
to blend in with the new school?" Lewis said. "If this school remains a magnet school of the arts, it would be a
shame for our students to have to perform in a cafetorium and we have a beautiful
auditorium sitting here. This (new school) could be a showpiece."
John Leppard Jr. said it could be a showpiece that would help the community and his business.
"I'm a history buff. I love history. I love Parker High School. I love this side of town."
he said. He said if the community doesn't unify and "make something for the community where it will grow, it's
just going to die." Leppard owns Quality Lube Center on Woodside Avenue.
_________________________________
The Greenville News
Wednesday, October 30, 2002
Greenville, S.C.
Alumni hope to save some of old
Parker High
By Angelia Davis
STAFF WRITER
Graduates of Parker High School want a new place to exhibit historic treasures of the former school and hope to build a new Parker Museum.
In fact, that is the reason the Parker High School Alumni Association was formed, said Walter
"Rock" Huff, Parker's 1951
student body president.
"There are literally thousands of people who want to
preserve the history of this high school. Our goal is to try to do
this through the Parker High School Alumni Association," he said.
Huff said he and Marion Robertson, president of the Association, are working with the architect and staff for Institutional
Resources to preserve as much of the high school's history as possible.
Institutional Resources, the company managing construction projects for the Greenville County School District, plans to tear down the school's gymnasium and library for a
new 600-capacity school. Construction on the new school is expected to begin in 2003, behind the
existing school buildings.
Parker High was built on Woodside Avenue, in the City View community, in the 1920s. It was South Carolina's first vocational school, and one of the first of its
kind in the nation, Huff said.
The gymnasium, auditorium and a portion of the Hollis
building are the remaining buildings of the Parker High of the 1930s.
The school closed as Parker High in 1985 and reopened that fall as Parker Middle School. In 1996, Parker Middle became Parker Academy for the Fine Arts and Humanities,
a magnet school for sixth- through eighth-grade students.
Brian Stark, an area manager for Institutional Resources, said they looked into trying
to save the gymnasium, but that building has too many structural problems that cost too much to fix.
And the media center, he said, "is a large
space but it's not something I can't re-create."
The auditorium is like none other in Greenville County, said Parker Principal Lillie Lewis. That building,
which faces Bramlett Road, is listed on the National
Registry of Historic Sites and, Stark said, "it's
not something I can re-create. There's just no way I can."
Kathy Jones-Richard, a 1975 Parker graduate,
suggested preserving the high school's history by selling bricks that come from the buildings that will
be torn down. The bricks could somehow be incorporated into the design of the
new school, or money from the brick sale could be set aside to fund
renovating the auditorium, she said.
"I would be willing to buy bricks to preserve Parker High School," she said.
Huff said the alumni association already has lots of
memorabilia from the high school to fill the future Parker Museum.
_________________________________
The Greenville News
October 31, 2002
Greenville, S.C.
Parker High alums push for school museum
Graduates want place to house memorabilia on new campus
By Angelia Davis
STAFF_WRITER
Graduates of Parker High School want a new place to exhibit historic treasures of the former school and hope to build a new Parker Museum.
In fact, that is the reason the Parker High School Alumni Association was formed, said Walter
"Rock" Huff, Parker's 1951
student body president.
"There are literally thousands of people who want to
preserve the history of this high school. Our goal is to try to do
this through the Parker High School Alumni Association," he said.
Huff said he and Marion Robertson, president of the association, are working with the architect and staff for Institutional
Resources to preserve as much of the high school's history as possible.
Institutional Resources, the company managing construction projects for the Greenville County School District, plans to tear down the school's gymnasium and library for a
new 600-student-capacity school. Construction on the new school is expected to begin in 2003, behind the
existing school buildings.
Parker High was built on Woodside Avenue, in the City View community, in the 1920s. It was South Carolina's first vocational school and one of the first of its
kind in the nation, Huff said.
The gymnasium, auditorium and a portion of the Hollis
building are the remaining buildings of the Parker High of the 1930s.
The school closed as Parker High in 1985 and reopened that fall as Parker Middle School. In 1996, Parker Middle became Parker Academy for the Fine Arts and Humanities,
a magnet school for sixth- through eighth-grade students.
Brian Stark, an area manager for Institutional Resources, said they looked into trying
to save the gymnasium, but that building has too many structural problems that cost too much to fix.
And the media center, he said, "is a large
space, but it's not something I can't re-create."
The auditorium is like none other in Greenville County, said Parker Principal Lillie Lewis. That building,
which faces Bramlett Road, is listed on the National
Registry of Historic Sites and, Stark said, "it's
not something I can re-create. There's just no way I can."
Kathy Jones-Richard, a 1975 Parker graduate,
suggested preserving the high school's history by selling bricks that come from the buildings that will
be torn down. The bricks could somehow be incorporated into the design of the
new school, or money from the brick sale could be set aside to fund
renovating the auditorium, she said.
"I would be willing to buy bricks to preserve Parker High School," she said.
Huff said the alumni association already has lots of
memorabilia from the high school to fill the future Parker Museum.
_________________________________
The Greenville News
Sunday, September
7, 2003
Greenville, S.C.
School board could tear down county landmark
By Jason Zacher
STAFF WRITER
The Parker Middle Academy auditorium, a picturesque 65-year-old building, could soon meet the wrecking ball if the Greenville County school board approves an
administration recommendation to demolish it.
"It's unique. There's nothing else like it,"
said Lola Padgett, who graduated in 1959 from Parker High. "I'd hate
to see any of it go."
The biggest problem with keeping the auditorium, according to the district, is the cost. A renovation would require an
estimated $4.5 million.
Demolishing the building would keep the renovation from
adding to the overall price of the entire $863 million school construction project, which jumped by more than 10 percent earlier this year. The board
has already approved the sale of $920 million in bonds.
Don Buck, CEO of Institutional Resources, the company rebuilding and remodeling
the district's schools, said there never was a choice of remodeling the auditorium or
demolishing it.
"The decision is do they leave it there and do nothing, or
do they tear it down," he said. "We don't have it in our budget to
remodel it."
The building was listed on the National Register of
Historic Places in 1996, but its historic designation does little to protect it.
Owners of buildings listed as historic places with the National Park Service may do whatever they wish with
the buildings, provided no federal money has been spent on them, according to the park service. In a document to be presented to the board
Tuesday, district construction director Bryan Morris said no federal funds have been used on
the auditorium.
County Attorney A. J. Tothacer Jr. said the county's historic ordinance forces any building or demolition
permit on a historic building to go through a special process to determine its impact on the building. In this case, state law governs the construction of schools, he said, so the county building ordinances do not apply.
"We have no authority over the school district," he said.
Current Parker principal Tecora Prince and former principal Lillie Lewis would not comment on the demolition.
Buck said he did not know how the company came up with the $4 million figure,
but he said it was to "bring it up to school standards."
Trustee Debi Bush's mother attended Parker High, and Bush
joked Friday that her mother won't speak to her because of the decision.
"I said, 'Mom, it's $4
million,'" Bush said.
Alumni interviewed said they have tried without success to raise the money to save the
auditorium.
"We have not been able to generate any enthusiasm on
the part of the alumni," said alumna Nancy Smith.
Parker alumna Mary Elizabeth Barton said the building
means a lot to her and to the county.
"We don't have a leader who knows what to do to save
it," she said.
Those close to Parker said there is so much more than just a historic plaque on the front of the
building. Decades of etched graffiti mark the backs of the wooden seats — like
"Dale '83 + Tina '85" and "Juniors 72" — and the chipped and marked wood on the
stage that is evidence of dozens of stage productions — like the 1955 production "Rio Rita," which is one of Barton's outstanding
memories.
Graduating classes walked across the stage for decades, and one of the school's outstanding senior
privileges was sitting in the now off-limits balcony from 1940 until the last
graduating class left the school in 1985.
In 1986, Parker High became Parker Middle School.
The historical plaque is significant, too. It states that the
auditorium was built by the depression-era Works Progress Administration in
1938, and was the largest WPA school project in South Carolina. The auditorium cost $50,000 to build in 1938. Now
it will cost 90 times as much to renovate.
While the measure passed the board's committee of the whole on a voice vote, some of the board members
say they still have reservations about demolishing the historic building.
"I hope when we gather again Tuesday, some
alternative solutions can be presented," said trustee Leola Robinson. The school sits in trustee Roger Meek's
district. He said he's been trying to
rally support among board members for the building, but hasn't had any luck.
"The board is not willing to spend that money,"
he said. "But nobody else has pitched in, either, not the Parker alumni or anyone
else."
With nobody stepping forward to save the building,
Robinson said she is worried it will be yet another historic Greenville school that will just simply be
rolled over — like the schools bearing the names Sterling, Gower, Allen, Oscar, Nicholtown, Piedmont, Lincoln, Washington, Duckett and Sullivan.
"The future of that auditorium will be decided by the community," Robinson said.
"If there is no interest, it will be another historic school to fall by the wayside."
_________________________________
The Greenville News
Tuesday, September
9, 2003
Greenville, S.C.
School board delays action on Parker auditorium
By Ishmael Tate
STAFF WRITER
The Greenville County school board voted Tuesday night to continue discussion of alternatives to
demolishing the historic Parker Middle Academy auditorium.
The committee of the whole previously voted to raze the
building after a recommendation from Institutional Resources, which is carrying out a school system building program,
estimated that renovating the 68-year-old structure would cost $4.5 million.
In addition, razing the structure would free up space for physical education space, said Michael McKinney of Institutional Resources.
"We were in sticker shock," said Trustee Debi Bush.
More discussion is necessary before a decision is made, she said. Much attention has been given to the
Greenville High/Greenville Braves issue and Parker auditorium deserves the same
consideration, she said.
"I don't think the Parker folks had a chance to speak up," said trustee
Ann Sutherlin.
She said she was disturbed that Parker community and graduates of the school had not been made aware of
alternatives.
Electing to demolish the building could set a dangerous precedent for other historical sites, Sutherlin said.
The purpose of putting a building on the registry is to
protect it, said Judy Benedict vice chair of Greenville County Historical Commission. "It throws up
a red flag," she said.
The building is important to the community and its graduates, said
Greenville County Historical Commission Chairman Rick Owens.
"Sometimes the value of a historical building has to outweigh the cost of renovation," he said.
A temporary cooling system could be installed in the
auditorium independent of the school could be installed while the district made long term plans for the
building, he said.
The question, said trustee William Herlong, is whether
keeping the auditorium will compromise the educational mission of Parker. "I
want to know what the people out there want," he said.
Because the likelihood of any group raising $4.5 million necessary is not likely, Chairman
Tommie Reece said she was not keen on the idea of taking more time to discuss the issue but did not vote
against it.
The district does not have the money, said trustee Chuck Saylors.
In some cases, historical buildings skirt some of the
requirements of modern buildings, but not in the case of an educational building, McKinney said.
No final plans for the new school can be made without knowing the
final fate of the auditorium, he said.
_________________________________
The Greenville News
Tuesday, September
23, 2003
Greenville, S.C.
Sirrine, Parker to close, s