NASHVILLE - George Edward York was just 6 years old when his father mortgaged the family farm for the first time in an effort to keep York Institute alive.
Now, nearly 80 years later, George York - the oldest living son of Tennessee World War I hero Alvin C. York - is fighting to save the very building his dad helped erect as the state has been calling for its emergency demolition.
George and several other supporters for the Jamestown, Tenn., school’s restoration gained some momentum earlier this month as the executive subcommittee of the State Building Commission postponed any decision regarding the school’s fate for 120 days, giving those involved until May to raise support and some $3.7 million in funds that may be necessary to save the school.
And George’s petition to the committee was a main reason why.
“I’ve heard repeatedly from the mouths of people that if Sgt. York was here, he’d say, ‘Away with the building.’ They’re completely wrong. He would never say that. In fact, if my dad was living, that building would have never been in the condition it’s in,” York said.
“It has sat there all this time, and all of the sudden, we all rush in here and want to tear it down and get rid of it. It’s beyond me why we’re even sitting here arguing, discussing and talking about it. Because of who my dad was and what he did, there’s more revenue coming in there because of him that would have restored the building a long time ago.”
The old school building has sat empty since 1980, and today’s 700-plus York students attend classes in a new building just nine feet away. The state has talked about demolition before but each time has backed away from the issue, leaving the building to continue to deteriorate and crumble.
“It’s been there 27 years. Nobody’s gotten excited about it,” said current York Institute Superintendent Phil Brannon. “Every time this comes up about tearing it down, everybody throws a fit, and the state just walks away. That’s what’s going to happen this time.”
Now a 50-foot fenced barrier surrounds its exterior, forcing Brannon to close four classrooms and adjust traffic routes that have been used for decades. He says an emergency plan must be put into place because of the current condition of the old building. If it were to collapse, dangerous materials, including asbestos, would become airborne.
Mark Buchanan, the engineer who wrote the report prompting the Tennessee Board of Education to call for emergency demolition, says a collapse is a possibility. While education officials say students are currently safe, a report by Buchanan considered three cost estimates - ranging from $500,000 to $3.7 million - for three different scenarios. One was to repair the building and bring it up to current building codes, the other to tear the building down and build a similar one in its place, and the third to demolish the building completely.
It was the state’s recommendation to demolish the building for $500,000 this summer to make the area safer for students.
If restoration is decided, Buchanan said a short-term fix would be to shore up the front portion of the building that is currently in the worst shape.
“In structural engineering terms and in construction terms, we think of shoring lasting maybe weeks or months - not years,” Buchanan said. “But it was explained to us, because of the budget and the process, it takes years to get from point A to point B. We are not comfortable with a temporary shoring scheme that has to maintain the place for years.”
Instead, Buchanan said, the best immediate option would be to tear down the front wall and build it back to current standards - an option that would give the building approximately two years.
The committee didn’t give any indication about if or when that work might take place, but cost overruns for restoration are expected. Original figures showed that $3.7 million would be needed to tear the school down and rebuild at the site, but those figures could easily topple the $4 million mark, considering the need for portable classrooms next year for displaced students at the current school and the need for a future expansion at York Institute.
While there was no argument that the school needs extra space - Brannon has said York is in desperate need for new classrooms and a new cafeteria and kitchen - the issue is currently being studied at length.
“We are in the process of having a master plan done to determine whether or not we need additional space,” Secretary of State Riley Darnell said, noting that the plan could be ready in six months. “At the end of that process, we will have some feel if additional space is necessary, and that decision has not yet been made.”
While many supporters of the school shared blame for the building reaching its current state, others, including Tennessee Tech history professor Calvin Dickinson, placed the blame on the state.
“The first report on the structure of that building was in 1988, and the state’s done nothing at all since then,” Dickinson said. “The state is at fault for not restoring that building, I think it’s the state’s responsibility at this point.”
But Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Dave Goetz disagreed.
“I understand your desire to support his legacy, but I haven’t heard anything from the community about what you are willing to do to help,” Goetz said. “Where were you 25 years ago? The community needs to step forward. You have put this on us, and I’m not sure that’s fair.
“We’ve been paying for the operation of that high school since its inception. How much is that on an annual basis?” he continued, referring to the fact that York Institute is the only school in Tennessee owned by the state. “We were told this building is dangerous. And if there’s some way to save it, and the community’s willing to drive that, that’s something I guess we can consider.”
Plans to gather and raise community support are expected to begin immediately, and many say it’s what Sgt. York would have wanted.
“York helped dig the foundation for that school,” said Tennessee Tech professor and avid York historian Michael Birdwell. “York attended every graduation until 1954, when a stoke left him debilitated. That school was his life. On two different occasions, he mortgaged his family’s farm - put his family in jeopardy - to pay teachers’ salaries. He bought the first two school buses out of his own pocket. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. If he were here today, he would be fighting for the school as well.”
“Maybe over the last 20 years we can all agree we haven’t focused on this,” State Treasurer Dale Sims said. “I think we now have a reason to focus.”
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