“It is just the right thing to do.”

Commissioner Mary Ann Enloe, discussing creating a community center out of the old Pigeon Street School

Enloe is right, but too often what is right gets trampled under foot as politicians let emotions and infighting run roughshod over reason.

The Pigeon Community Development Club in Waynesville has tried to work with the school board and the county board to obtain the old Pigeon Street School. The club wants to turn it into a community center to serve youths, senior citizens, and local groups in an area of Waynesville that has next to nothing as far as recreational facilities go.

The group has played the game, going to both the school and county boards. They can’t afford to buy the old school that was declared surplus after a renovation project at the old Clyde Elementary School. At one point a few months ago, the county board was close to buying the old building so it could lease it to the community club. The school board, though, would not accept the offer. School officials then asked for more money and then lowered the price after the county said no. The county, though, had a chance to buy the building at $325,000 and put an end to the crazy bickering. The purchase, however, was voted down 3-2, with Enloe and Wade Francis voting to buy the building.

Community members say it boils down to racism, that Haywood County leaders do not want the small African-American community to thrive and feel some ownership and connectedness to the town.

One fact can’t be denied — making a deal for this school has not been given a high priority. In fact, the needs and desires of the community have been forgotten amid the back and forth squabbling of the two boards. County officials say they don’t know why the school board is driving such a hard bargain. That’s a good question. Still, coming up with $325,000 — after already offering $300,000 — did not seem like it would have been too difficult for the county.

The compelling truth is that these families and taxpayers are the legitimate heirs to this school. It symbolizes the determination that maintained the African-American community through years of legalized segregation and second-class citizenship. Men and women gave their own time and money to make the school the best it could be when all it received financially were the crumbs left over after the all-white schools got books, desks, new equipment, etc.

Despite those hard times, Edith Allen said the school and the community were warm, safe places filled with wonderful memories. Let’s make a deal and put this school in the hands of the community. Perhaps it will once again be a place where a new generation of youths will create memories of a new and different America.

 

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The Smoky Mountain News