FORNEY, Texas — Its been nearly eight years since the City of Forney announced the purchase of the historic Booker T. Washington school building and, with its announcement, high hopes of restoring the building despite a previous fire and years of excessive deterioration.
FORNEY, Texas — Its been nearly eight years since the City of Forney announced the purchase of the historic Booker T. Washington school building and, with its announcement, high hopes of restoring the building despite a previous fire and years of excessive deterioration.
Although the current building only dates back to the 1950s, the roots of the school date back to the 1890s, long before desegregation. The school would later close at the end of the 1966-67 school year, according to Forney Historian Jerry Flook.
The property and building at 702 East Main Street was purchased using the Community Benefit Fund, which was funded by a grant from then-NextEra Energey, formerly FP&L, and now known as Luminant.
Work immediately went into asbestos remediation, shoring-up the overall structure in an effort to halt any additional deterioration, and gathering estimates to renovate the building for what, at the time, council members had hoped would be a community center.
Nearly two years later, the council received their initial estimates — and they were much higher than they had anticipated.
Initial estimates put the renovation at $2 million, for which the city would have sought certificates of obligation to fund. Preliminary renovation costs presented to the city council in September 2014 however, put the cost of renovation at a minimum of $3 million, not including expenses for, among other things, design, engineering, geotechnical, testing, permitting, and most importantly, any additional needed structural work.
Its future has relatively been on the back burner as councils past and present discussed options, and their once-high hopes, for the building and the property.
City Manager Tony Carson tells inForney.com the decision to demolition the building wasn't made lightly but, due to safety concerns presented in two structural engineering reports deeming the building unsafe and calling for its demolition, the building's current deteriorated state and its impact on adjacent property owners, and in consultation with the Booker T. Washington Alumni Association, the city council ultimately came to their decision on its demolition.
Carson says crews will work to preserve the bricks from the building during demolition for a future-proposed memorial for the Booker T. Washington school and its alumni.
The City of Forney, earlier today, posted a request for proposal seeking bids on the demolition of the building and restoration of the lot.
Demolition is expected to occur sometime this summer after the city has reviewed those bid proposals.
