rand Saline’s Old School Building To Begin A New Life
GRAND SALINE- Call it the old school building that refuses to die.
Eight years ago, it was in poor condition with a dilapidated roof and raccoons nesting in it. It was destined for a bulldozer.
After being repaired and renovated by volunteers — most of them Grand Saline ISD alumni — the building was almost totally destroyed by fire in September 2006.
Thanks to the support of the local school board and the same volunteer organization that saved it from razing, the building has literally risen from its ashes and will host its first private event on Aug. 2.
Those involved in the rebuilding project say the work, effort and faith have all been rewarded.
"So many people have freely given of their time and money, gathering donations and holding fund-raisers," John Chambless said as he walked through the reconstructed rooms Wednesday afternoon.
"It wasn’t surprising because I have found that if people are interested in something or had a connection to it, they will get involved," he said.
Chambless had two older brothers who graduated high school in the building, located at the corner of Redbud Lane and North Green Street.
The last graduating class was in 1967, Chambless said, and rooms in the building were used for certain programs for a time after that.
When he was elected to the Grand Saline ISD School Board in 2000, though, Chambless learned the building was about to be torn down.
"I asked for a chance to look through it and got a key from maintenance…It definitely needed a new roof and had some water damage from rain on the inside, but most of it was still sound," he said.
Chambless contacted Ed Bailey, himself a Grand Saline graduate in that building. Bailey pounded the drum in gathering support from other Grand Saline alumni to save the building.
That group of initial supporters would come to be known as Friends of the Old School.
"(John) came up with the idea, because he was aware it was going to be torn down in 2000," Bailey said. "We started working on that, getting a group together.
"It took two years of negotiations with the school district to convince them we could undertake this project," Bailey said. "They gave us a three-year lease, and specified three things we had to do, which was to fix the windows, paint and fix the interior."
Through donations and volunteer efforts, that work was done and the Friends of the Old School received a 20-year lease on the building, Bailey said.
Starting from scratch
Saving the old school once would not be enough.
Chambless said it is still "a mystery" as to what exactly started the fire that nearly destroyed the building almost two years ago.
Worse yet, most of the memorabilia that had been donated for a school museum inside the building was now gone forever.
Bailey lost his senior year letter jacket, a Future Farmers of America jacket and other items.
"There was a quilt a lady had given us. She graduated with my mother and another lady in that class," he said. "Her mother had given her that quilt and she embroidered every class member’s name on it.
"She had that quilt since 1939," Bailey said.
Undaunted, the Friends of the Old School began the long road toward rebuilding.
"We had a lot of people in the community behind us and support from the school board. They knew we had brought together a good thing for the community at that time," Bailey said.
Donations came in steadily for the rebuilding project, even from out-of-state alumni who had gotten news of the fire.
Chambless said a decision was made to base the new construction on the original 1920s floor plan. The new building has something of the old one in it as well.
"We have six of the windows from the original building we were able to save. We took those out before it was demolished," he said.
A portion of the original wall in the north room also remains. Aside from that, it was up to TCMC Construction of Tyler to come up with something that carried the look and feel of the original schoolhouse.
"We have old-style light fixtures coming in," TCMC’s project superintendent Larry Bunch said. "No one makes them anymore on a regular basis, only if you order them."
Bunch added that the interior paint scheme and ceiling construction were both developed to hearken the look and feel of a bygone era in public schools.
The project is in its homestretch now, with flooring to be put down and kitchen appliances to be installed.
Some modern changes had to be made to accommodate building codes, but Bunch and Chambless agree the new "Old School" is very faithful to its predecessor.
For Bailey and many others, the first booked event on Aug. 2 — a birthday party for two ladies, sisters-in-law now, who both graduated from the original building — will be a proud moment of achievement.
"The loss was very tragic," he said about the fire, "but we sure are looking forward to getting it built back.
"Even though it is not going to be the same, it will be a new, nice building," Bailey said.