Preserving Dunbar: The Relocation
The Charles England Intermediate School sign remained at the school until 2014.
{Contributed photo/Charles Owens}
Anytime the words Dunbar/Charles England Intermediate School are mentioned in the presence of Emy Garrett and Rona Lockhart, nostalgia immediately takes over. The two are instantly transported back into the building at 301 Smith Ave. where they were educated and later returned as administrators.
Lockhart was a member of the first class, in 1969, to attend seventh grade at the school after integration. During segregation, the building, then known as Dunbar High School (DHS), educated Black students in the city. Her connection to the school started before her attendance commenced as a student. Lockhart’s parents took her to DHS football games during her toddler years until the school closed briefly in 1968.
Garrett attended fourth and fifth grades at the school. She has fond memories of her classmates, teachers and the fun that always in abundance.
While there were many days that tested their knowledge, training and expertise as the leaders of the school, it was the conversations centered around plans for the building that proved to be one of their toughest challenges.
The Name Change
The late Charles England and his wife, Julia, were respected educators and activists in the community.
{Contributed photo/The England Family}
In 1998, Garrett was named assistant principal at Dunbar Intermediate School. Less than a year later, she would be thrust into controversy when the Lexington City Schools (LCS) Board of Education voted unanimously to change the name from Dunbar to Charles England Intermediate School. England, a Lexington Senior High School (LSHS) and Davidson County Hall of Fame inductee, was a longtime educator, coach and community activist who had worked at DHS and LSHS.
Many in the community wanted the Smith Ave. building to retain the Dunbar name because of its historical significance. Along with educating all the city’s Black students before integration, it produced educators, accountants, ministers, state championship winning football teams, division I scholarship athletes and a renowned marching band.
The school was named after Paul Laurence Dunbar who is widely viewed as one of the first influential Black poets in American literature.
The Discussions
Around 2001, conversations began about long-term plans for the school. At 50-years-old, at the time, the building needed major upgrades and renovations. Housed on a piece of land that was bordered by houses, a creek and additional land situated within a floodplain, the options were limited. Three were presented:
Renovate the current school building
Build a new school on the land adjacent to the school (where the playground is)
Build a new school at a new site
Garrett, then principal of CEIS, and Lockhart, then assistant principal of CEIS, knew without hesitation what their desires were.
“Our initial thing was of course we’re going to stay here,” remembered Garrett, assistant superintendent for LCS. “Starting out, we never thought about a new building. As much as we loved that building there were issues. There were things that needed to be upgraded. There was asbestos. But we thought we’d update this historic building.”
Lockhart, who retired in 2014, had similar thoughts. Initially, she assumed they could add on to the building beyond the fence in the back. This was before they learned they would need around $1 million worth of dirt to make that plan feasible since they were on a floodplain.
Another idea that picked up some steam was housing the fourth and fifth graders at the other three elementary schools (at that time they were South Lexington, Pickett and Southwest) in trailers while the school was renovated. Garrett and Lockhart would continue to serve as administrators for these students and would travel daily to each school.
Although not ideal, the plan would allow the school to remain on Smith Ave.
Having been built in 1951 for high school students, the school offered unique traits for intermediate students the elementary schools didn’t have. These characteristics aided in the administrators’ desire to remain in the building.
Garrett, left, and Lockhart are pictured in the media center at CEIS.
{Contributed photo/Rona Lockhart}
“When they put in the HVAC system, they had to drop the ceiling because of the duct work,” Lockhart explained. “That made it cozier than most halls because we didn’t have that big high ceiling. I think the fact that it had that historical significance made it special and cozy for us. We all knew the importance of it to the community.”
For Garrett, there was a certain charm always present in the school.
“The classrooms were inherently larger since they were built for high school kids. We had those big floor-to-ceiling windows. We had a full-size gymnasium, auditorium and media center. The old buildings just have so much character.”
However, the two would soon realize that the comfiness, familiarity and significance of the building wouldn’t be enough to sustain its effectiveness in the twenty-first century.
The Relocation
After sitting through countless meetings listening and contributing to the discussion of long-term plans for CEIS, Garrett and Lockhart’s dream of staying on Smith Ave. had begun to yield to reality. The building was outdated and the amount of money it would cost to elevate it to the necessary standards was astronomical.
“We sat through some difficult, long meetings,” recalled Garrett. “At the very beginning, not being contractors and knowing all the things that went into it, we thought we could make this accessible. When you talk about spending millions and millions of dollars and you still won’t have a state-of-the-art building, we thought our kids deserved a beautiful state-of-the-art building.”
Garrett and Lockhart smile as they stick a shovel into the dirt at the groundbreaking for the new CEIS on March 20, 2007.
{Contributed photo/Emy Garrett}
According to Garrett, Lockhart, who she said is the analytical mind of the two, had concerns about approval on a higher level and disruption of the neighborhood.
“It’s highly likely it wouldn’t have passed with the state,” Lockhart explained. “I’m not sure how you get around internet issues, communication dead spaces and the cost of removing the asbestos. We talked about if they raised the playground up to the level of the current building and did the addition there, that would force all the school traffic to Smith Ave. All of that came up in meetings.”
While a solution was being sorted through, the Davidson County Commissioners appropriated $710,000 to LCS for improvements at CEIS in 2003. This would include the expansion of the cafeteria and renovation of bathrooms. Bathrooms were completed in 2005.
During this time, a Charles England Task Force was comprised to study the options that were presented. In March 2004, the task force made a recommendation to the board of education to build a new school at a new site. Their suggestion passed with a majority vote.
A location for the new Charles England was identified. It would be housed at 111 Cornelia St. The site had previously been home to Eanes School.
Following is an abbreviated timeline of the relocation:
In January 2006, the board voted to receive construction proposals.
In May 2006, an $11.5 million contract was awarded to Ramsey Burgin Smith Architects.
ECS Carolinas LLP was awarded the contract for asbestos abatement and demolition of Eanes School.
The groundbreaking for the new CEIS took place on March 20, 2007.
The new CEIS opened on August 25, 2008. The name Dunbar was restored to the building on Smith Ave.
Left with a bittersweet feeling, Lockhart wanted to clear up a common misconception.
“I think the misunderstanding is that we wanted to get out of the neighborhood. That wasn’t it. It was about providing a building that would give the children access to the best twenty-first century education possible. If we had our way, we would’ve stayed right where we were but it wasn’t going to work. That building gave us 56 years of everything she had.”
School’s Sale Sends Shockwaves Through Community
At the February 2008 LCS board of education meeting, a motion was passed to allow for a sale of Dunbar School. Previously, the city of Lexington and Davidson County government declined to purchase the building. In March 2008, a presentation was given by a representative from Preservation North Carolina (PNC) who noted the site’s potential for adaptive reuse and its significance in the Black community.
The following month, a contract was negotiated with PNC to market the property. At a special-called meeting in January 2009, it was announced that the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte had purchased the land. At the time, they had no determined use for it.
News of the school no longer being a part of the LCS system left many stunned, including Garrett and Lockhart who said they never recollected any mention of a sale during the countless meetings.
“I was surprised,” Lockhart admitted. “All of our discussions were about do we renovate or build.”
Garrett echoed Lockhart’s sentiments as she shared they had discussed many options for the building once it was vacated.
A view of the ramp inside the building in 2020.
{Contributed photo}
“It was never on our radar that the old Dunbar was going to be sold. We said it for so long. That was going to be a great community space. We had many talks about how to use it. It would be a great community center, a place for staff development, a daycare for staffers’ children, central office because it was more centrally located. Maybe we were pipe dreaming. I don’t remember anything ever being mentioned about the school being sold. Ever.”
Since the transfer of ownership, the building has been used minimally and there have been no updates made. Inside the former institution, there is evidence the school has remained untouched since CEIS (now Charles England Elementary School) relocated. White boards on classroom walls still have notes written from the last day the school was open. Ceiling tiles have fallen. Dust is caked along the walls and floors. Seeing the deterioration of a building that holds so many memories for Garrett and Lockhart is hard especially given the awakening many have had recently.
“We thought it would’ve still been a part of the LCS system in some capacity,” noted Garrett. “What happened after it was sold was nothing. Nothing happened to it. It’s just sat there and kind of crumbled for 12 years. I think if this [the relocation] would’ve happened in an atmosphere like today where people are more cognizant, we wouldn’t have sold the building. And that makes me really sad.”
Peeling paint and rust are visible at Dunbar School. Plywood covers many of the windows and doors at the building. {Kassaundra Shanette Lockhart/Davidson Local}
