FORSYTH, Ga. — "We love this place. I can still remember my second grade teacher, Mrs. Clements, right here in this section," says Hubbard alumni, Larry Evans. In the 1950s, Larry Evans and Herbert Gant spent all of elementary, middle, and high school in the buildings on Hubbard's campus in Forsyth.
"We grew up here and we lived right across the street, so we walked to school every day and the playground was right here," says Evans.
The Hubbard campus was where African Americans attended school during segregation. It later served as a middle school for 6th graders until last year, when the school closed due to flooding and mold.
"We knew the amount of water getting in, even though we got it remediated and dried up, the water continued to come in from the bottom and the sides of the foundation," says Monroe County School Superintendent Mike Hickman.
So instead of spending millions to repair or rebuild it, Hickman says they plan to turn the campus into a park. "We wanted to make sure that we provided a way to connect with the community and serve the purpose of what William Hubbard stood for, and that was actually bringing people together."
They plan to use half a million dollars in the county's E-SPLOST funds to tear down the buildings with the most damage and turn the area into a park with walking track and playground.
Some of the buildings still in good condition will be transformed into a museum for Hubbard campus' history and used for after-school programs, like a Boys & Girls Club.
Gant says the school will still serve its purpose decades later.
"It is educational in that it is still doing something that is positive for the community, as far as I'm concerned." He says they may be demolishing part of the school, but the memories will last.
Superintendent Hickman says they plan to finish the project by the summer of 2020.