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Submitted photo.
By Guest Columnist Beverly Walter
ZEBULON - A broad-based group of former alumni of the old Zebulon Elementary School, along with other interested community members, are developing plans to save the building. Pike Historic Preservation and the Downtown Development Authority of the City of Zebulon are spearheading the group’s efforts for the two-year, $1.5 million project.
A fundraising campaign is underway, with the first goal of making the building weatherproof. Needed immediately are a new roof and windows. The long term goal of the “Save the Old Zebulon School” Committee is renovating the structure into a multi-use facility for the arts, retail, office, and other uses in the downtown area. The cost of the two-year project is estimated at $1.5 million, to be developed in three phases of $500,000 each. The first $100,000 are earmarked for the new roof.
“There is great interest in this project, and we believe that we can raise the first $100,000 quickly,” said Anna Evans of Pike Historic Preservation. “Let’s get a new roof on this building by Christmas!”
Setting the fundraising in motion, an anonymous private donor is pledging a $50,000 dollar-for-dollar match of funds raised between now and December 31, 2016. Donations to the Old Zebulon School project are 100 percent tax deductible. To date, $5,000 have been deposited in the “Save the Old Zebulon School” account at United Bank.
“Renovating and repurposing the building will act as a catalyst for the further development of the West Square/Adams Street neighborhood,” said Joe Walter, Mayor Pro Tem of Zebulon. “This area has been identified by several planning studies as important to the continued growth of Zebulon.”
Constructed in 1926, the old school on Adams Street provided a safe space to educate hundreds, if not thousands, of students during its 52 years of use. The last kindergarten class crossed the stage in the school’s auditorium in 1978. Those students received their high school diplomas as the Class of 1991.
Photographs of the old Zebulon School are available at the Facebook page www.facebook.com/OldZebulonSchool. The page will be updated as the project progresses.
Donors may contribute to the project through the crowdfunding application CrowdRise: www.crowdrise.com/save-the-old-zebulon-school.
Checks and cash donations are also accepted and may be made at United Bank or mailed to Pike Historic Preservation, P.O. Box 489, Zebulon, GA 30295. Please make checks payable to “Save the OZS.”