Tennessee School "Pulled Out of the Fire"
By Margaret Foster | Online Only | July 23, 2008
In a letter to Gov. Bredesen in January, the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Southern Office pointed out that a state-commissioned study presented in September 2007 estimated that it would cost $3.7 million to renovate the school and $3.6 million to build a new one of similar size.
Credit: Fentress County, Tenn.
A long-neglected school built in 1929 has a shot at seeing its centennial.
World War I hero Alvin C. York—who gained fame as "Sargeant York"—founded and helped construct the York Institute to educate rural mountain children. He even mortgaged his farm two times to keep the Jamestown, Tenn., school afloat. In the 1930s the state took over the York Institute, later adding new, modern structures on the 400-acre site.
Earlier this month, after considering the emergency demolition of the neglected main building, the state decided to transfer the structure and $500,000 earmarked for demolition. Under the agreement, the Sgt. York Patriotic Foundation must raise the funds necessary to stabilize and "mothball" the York Institute within a year.
"It got pulled out of the fire at the last minute," says Dan Brown, executive director of the Tennessee Preservation Trust, which named the institute one of the state's 10 most endangered buildings in 2005. "But it's a tough option for the York Foundation to fulfill."
It could cost more than $3 million to resurrect the building, which has been closed since 1980. Bricks are falling off the facade, floors have collapsed, and a fence surrounds the building to protect students.
After this month's agreement, the foundation is in the process of hiring structural engineers and contractors to stabilize the structure.
"The Sgt. York Foundation was elated to have the opportunity to save this schoolhouse," says H. Lee Barfield II, partner at Nashville-based Bass, Berry and Sims, who represents the foundation and three of Sgt. York's ancestors. "We had to overcome the state department of education's inevitable drive for demolition here. The problem we had was that the state education bureaucrats viewed it as a nuisance, and they wanted to tear it down for $500,000 and erect a standard, cookie-cutter schoolhouse in its place."
So far the foundation has not settled on a use for the building, Barfield says, but most supporters hope it will become a school again.
"If you honor the vision of Alvin York, who helped build it and mortgaged his farm, a future use would be as an educational purpose," says Patrick McIntyre, state historic preservation officer, who petitioned state agencies to save the York Institute. "We're so proud of how it all turned out. There were a lot of times in the process that a lot of folks thought it was very close to demolition, but no one gave up."
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Comments
Submitted by moony at: August 1, 2008
I am all for saving the York Institute building but the state and the Institute have had 28 years to come up with a reasonable solution since the original building was closed in 1980. This story is your standard "pull at the heartstrings" preservation story without addressing the facts. Alvin York's mission of educating rural boys and girls is still being carried out in the new buildings opened in 1980. So to say that tearing down the building is a slap to Sgt. York, is not quite true. After 28 years of neglect by all parties, for the descendents (not ancestors as your story calls them) to suddently become distressed at the condition of the building in the face of the state's decision to finally tear down the substandard structure is ignoring the opportunity they have had to address this situation for years. Yes -- save the building, but it sure would have been more cost effective to do it 28 years ago!