SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Demolition started this week at the old Rosenwald school property in the Altamonte Springs area.
News 6′s cameras were rolling as the work began on Merritt Street — the first visual sign of change at the site in years.
The project to transform the abandoned school into a community center has been described as long-awaited and much-needed by the surrounding community.
Before this year, the county spoke about revitalizing the 12-acre site, but little progress had been made. In April, News 6 met with residents who had been waiting for the county to sign off on their plans to build a 6,000-square-foot community center on the site.
“To know that they are anticipating putting a community center here, for this community, that’s a big win for us,” Cora Snead said.
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Cora Snead grew up in East Altamonte and went to school at Rosenwald as a little girl. She and her husband, Paul, later returned to teach there.
“We don’t have that hub anymore. We don’t have a place to meet. We don’t have a place to draw in all of the people in the community from the different churches,” Cora Snead said. “They have certain days where they might do things together, but it’s not like getting together with everybody and talking about the needs and what’s important in this community.”
The Rosenwald School first opened in 1931. It was built along with other schools in the South to serve black students during segregation.
As schools became integrated, the Rosenwald School transitioned into an education facility for special needs children. Once that programming ended, the doors were shut, and the gates were locked in 2011.
The county stepped in and purchased the property from the school district in 2019 for $1.75 million with plans to transform it into a multi-purpose center.
News 6 has followed the progress in recent years. We spoke with Andrea Wesser-Brawner, the chief strategy and innovation officer for Seminole County, about the plans.
“We know there’s a bunch of needs in workforce. We know we have poverty rates here. We know there’s a bunch of healthcare needs as well,” said Wesser-Brawner. “We have higher rates of diabetes, and asthma and some other issues for our community. And then of course programs and childcare and much needed uses from our parks and recs department to, you know, work with families.”
Once the new community center is built it will be a multi-purpose space where events like showers and graduations can be held. There are also plans to build a computer lab and offices where the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office can have a presence along with healthcare providers.
Wesser-Brawner said the center was designed with the community’s needs in mind. They also plan on preserving the property’s history.
“We’ve preserved some really great historical writing in the concrete behind us that will be a cornerstone of the building,” said Wesser-Brawner. “And then the architecture, the aesthetics of it, will actually be reminiscent of Rosenwald architecture throughout the country.”
Wesser-Brawner said it’s important to the community, and that is why they wanted to honor the historical elements.
Demolition could take up to 14 days to complete. Wesser-Brawner hopes the new community center will be open to the public within the next three years.
For a timeline of the project’s updates, visit the county’s website here.
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