LaShene Lowe has taken a stand or two against injustice and discrimination in her life and was not afraid to be found making another stand over something she felt so strongly about: legacy.
Monday evening was one of significance to the Black community of Mount Airy and the area in general. The African American Historical and Genealogical Society of Surry County and their ‘Save Jones’ committee appeared before the county commissioners to announce acceptance of the county’s proposal to take ownership of the former J. J. Jones High School, currently the L. H. Jones Family Resource Center
Over the past months as the future of J. J. Jones High has been discussed at meetings of the county commissioners, members from the society have been making regular pleas that the board do the right thing. They wanted their former school to be given to the Black community for its preservation, and the county agreed.
Thursday, Lowe was no less excited that on Monday when the alumni group did something, “I never thought we’d be able to do – convince those five men to give the school to us,” she said.
The date of transfer of the property is to coincide with the end of the fiscal year, Lowe said. The county’s goal has always been a timely transfer, and the transfer date was one of the only points of Save Jones’s proposal where the county and the group did not agree completely. To wait, as requested, until 2025 to make the final transfer was not an appealing option to county officials.
The Save Jones group has spoken to county officials since Monday’s meeting, and Lowe advised they sent a list of questions to the county for review. She said Thursday that she was aware of an offer that had been made for a tract of acreage that abuts the Jones School grounds from a private citizen after the surplus had been announced.
Monday was a day some did not think they would live to see, and sadly many of the Jones High alumni did not. Legacy, and the chance to preserve it, were the main goal of the Save Jones group. The history of the area’s first all-Black school with parts of it built by hand with the blood, sweat, and tears of its own students mixed into the bricks they the laid was at risk.
For all the complaints that local government is too slow or unresponsive, count Commissioner Mark Marion among those, as he just discussed his own thoughts on the speed, or lack thereof, of county government last week with students at North Surry High.
The case of J. J. Jones however may throw a few of those conventions out the window. Lowe is thankful to be in a position to disagree with that notion. “I felt it moved pretty quickly,” she observed. From the time of the surplus designation to the for-sale signage, to Monday evening’s meeting of the county commissioners was just over eight months.
“Save Jones committee was not even formed until Dec. 30, and we have been doing the impossible ever since,” Lowe said of the daunting task that faced the Save Jones group when the county sent a dispatch in late January.
At that time, the group was asked to join the county commissioners at their all-day planning session just a few weeks out. Scrambling as a team they put together a proposal including a video presentation on the Selma Girls School that had been successfully converted into a residential and multi-use facility.
There was some extra help in getting the presentation together, Lowe admitted. “There is a saying in the Bible that when two or more gather, I will be there. Well, there was 20 or 30 of us,” Lowe said with a chuckle. Strength in numbers among the alumni will be needed going forward as will some more help from above. “I know the Lord has blessed us and was with us to work a miracle.”
There was a feeling of concern expressed after the surplus decision that Jones would be forgotten, sold, or just cast aside even though the services of YVEDDI and other groups still call the aging building home. Having those community organizations on the new campus of Jones is something Lowe wants to continue. “We don’t want to put anyone out. We want YVEDDI to stay and evolve.”
For their part, the county commissioners let it be known several times throughout the process that they had no desire to see the building lost to time, or a wrecking ball. At no time did the county entertain any idea of demolishing the former school, which was a notion that made its way into the discussion every so often — to the bewilderment of a board comprised of self-admitted history buffs.
The county entertained a proposal from the Piedmont Triad Regional Council who wanted to develop an affordable rental community on the campus of the former school. The P3 plan (Public Private Partnership) would have seen the county pair with the PTRC to form their own limited liability corporation which would have overseen the redevelopment and later management of the new community.
Surplus properties are for sale outright, as the signage reflected, so the easiest path for the county to remove these buildings from their budget was to have them bought from the county. J. J. Jones High recently was appraised at over $300,000 so there is value beyond the sentimental value which does not translate directly into dollar signs.
There were no interested parties in buying the old school building outright.
The African American Historical and Genealogical Society and Save Jones were represented at Monday’s meeting by Lowe, president, and co-chairs of ‘Save Jones School’ Adreann Belle and Jackie Snow.
Also, in attendance to represent the AAHGS for the historic evening were Chaplain Brenda McCalop, Rebecca Hampton, Ken Badgett, Nevada Love, Alice Brim, Jewell Hauser, Rev Billie King, Sonya Dodd, Jamal Thompson, Beatrice Shoffner, Marie Nicholson, Maggie Hatcher, Cynthia Penn, and Rodney Galloway.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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