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By Scott Mims | Community Columnist

Not long ago, I wrote about a local group’s efforts to beautify the former site of Henry M. Adair Jr. High School, where the building’s columns and front steps stand as a memorial to the school. This got me thinking about all the memories of attending middle school there, as well as the potential of what the future might hold for the site, which is a special place for many.

When I attended Adair between 1990 and 1994, I always thought the building was interesting. It had a lot of character, as former principal Don Finlayson once told me. Yes, it was showing its age, but there was something special about arriving on the first day of school to find the building squeaky clean, and the floors were so shiny you could look down and see your reflection in them. During winter months, you could stand by the old-fashioned radiators to warm up before class started.

The stately trees that lined the front of the property gave the building a majestic appearance, and since the school was based in multiple buildings, we got to walk outside between some classes. The large windows that were commonplace in school buildings at the time gave you plenty of sunlight and enhanced the mood on sunny days.

Of course, most of my memories that surround the school have to do with people rather than structures, but for the sake of this column I will limit my topic to focus on the property itself. That said, it is important to mention that the building served as Chilton County High School before the current CCHS building was built on Seventh Street South. The original building at the corner of First Street and First Avenue dated back as far as 1913, but the one most people see in photos was completed in 1940, after a fire destroyed the former building two years prior.

Fast forward to the mid-2000s. With camera in hand, I stood on the corner as the school I attended was being demolished, brick by brick, save for the fifth grade building which is currently used by SPAN of Chilton County. Several years later, a friend gave me a piece of wood from the old building which has some royal blue paint on it. It’s a nice memento to have these many years later.

Now I wonder what the future holds for the property. While it would be just fine to remain as is, I’m sure many have thought about the possibility of another structure on the site. Of course, this is up to the local Board of Education. If they ever move into a new building, it would be nice to have the future BOE offices there, in a building that reflects the character of the old Adair School—with modern conveniences, of course.