Pictured: Children from the Newnan-Coweta Boys and Girls Club on front row,
Councilmen Ray Dubose, Dustin Koritko and Clayton Hicks, City Manager Cleatus Phillips (behind me), Mayor Pro Tem Cynthia E. Jenkins, Mayor Keith Brady, Jill Towns Alford (great granddaughter of Professor Howard Warner), Dr. Rebecca Gibson, chair of the Chalk Level Neighborhood Association, Missy Dugan of the Boys and Girls Club Metro Atlanta.
I'd long since heard people who grew up in the 50s and 60s in Newnan talk about their old community center on Pinson Street where the Pinson Street School was once located. The Howard Warner High School for African-American students in Coweta was located down the way on Savannah Street. The last graduating class was the class of 1955. After that, African-American students in Coweta attended Central High School on McIntosh St (now Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr.). The Howard Warner School became the elementary school campus. I haven't gotten it straight as to when Howard Warner became the Administrative Building for the Coweta School System. I've heard some say in the mid 1960s and some say in 1970 when all of Coweta Schools integrated. Either way, the neighborhood school went away during that period of great transition. Central High became the 9th and 10th grade campus for Newnan High and the legacies of both schools began to die. Around that time, many of the original homeowners in the neighborhood also began to pass away. Their children moved elsewhere in search of better job opportunities, opportunities created by the fall of Jim Crow laws, and newer homes. That left the door open to massive rental occupancy, that never turned around.
Fast forward to 1998 when I moved back to Newnan after graduating from Georgia Tech, I moved into my paternal grandparents' home to live in a neighborhood that had fallen from being what once was the center of black commerce, education and social standing. The neighborhood thrived during its heyday, even under the boot of Jim Crow laws during that time. There were numerous black-owned businesses, fine homes that were owned by African-Americans, and three thriving historic black churches in a neighborhood with at least two schools. There were black doctors, business owners, teachers and other professionals living, working, and socializing in this neighborhood. In 1998, it wasn't that place anymore; still isn't. Most of the businesses were no more. The homes were filled with renters; some illegal rooming houses, and crime of varying types had taken over. Instead of being a bastion of the black middle class, it was the highest concentration of poverty and crime in the whole county. Central High had become Central Middle, Fairmount School had become an alternative school and the recreation center on Pinson Street had gone into disrepair, managed poorly and become a place for those who wanted to make trouble instead of a place to stay out of trouble.
The neighborhood had few sidewalks, though there were more walkers than many other neighborhoods and less opportunity for business development, jobs and few homeownership opportunities along with no true neighborhood schools. So, I got involved. The consensus at the time was the kids in the neighborhood needed some place to go after school for recreation, homework assistance and simply well-managed group activities that would keep them off the street, out of trouble and moving towards a better future. I began inquiring about the Verona Rosser Community Center on Pinson Street and the gymnasium at Central High School and how those facilities could be used for those activities. I found out very quickly that there were lots of barriers to either facility being used and even less support for organized activities. Neighborhood members met from time to time to talk about what could be done. Many efforts over the years had fallen on deaf ears to the city leaders. Many strong advocates in our community were working for neighborhood improvement such as Ms. Josephine Rush, Ms. Minnie Robinson, Ms. Dorothy Jordan, Mr and Mrs. James and Katie Ruth Gay to name a few. They, too, were concerned that no large investments into the betterment of our neighborhood had come to fruition. After several years of driving into Atlanta to work in other neighborhoods, I thought it was time to start doing that same work in Newnan. I formed a now defunct faith-based non-profit (G3 Communities, Inc.) in hopes of starting a neighborhood revitalization corporation much like many neighborhoods in Atlanta. I worked for two of those neighborhood-based non-profits in Atlanta as a project manager for affordable housing. I loved it! And I loved the impact my work was making on those neighbors and their neighborhood. I wanted to do the same thing in Newnan. I had an office at the new Central Educational Center and started a plan to help my neighbors and hopefully open the Central gymnasium as a recreation and educational center. The short version of that story: it didn't work out. Along the way, we did have a great Summer Camp, computer lab and National Endowment for the Arts funded design charette by the Georgia Tech Senior Architectural Design Studio for the neighborhood. Together with neighborhood residents, we looked at a 13 acre property at the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr and East Newnan Road for redevelopment. But the owner lived in Smyrna, GA and was not willing to part with it. Unlike Atlanta, Newnan was considered a Tier II City and had a different set of guidelines for funding for housing. It required that the government apply for funds and administer them instead of the direct allotment to non-profits that larger cities could receive. Without support of the local council, the idea was shelved.
Over the years, the Chalk Level Neighborhood Association was formed and really got going under the leadership of Dr. Rebecca Gibson who was then the Principal at Poplar Road Elementary. She moved back into the neighborhood to be with her mother who was aging in place in Dr. Gibson's childhood home that her parents built in the 1950s. She remained there after her mother's passing and is still chair of the association today. The association began to tackle neighborhood trash, crime and code enforcement issues to make the neighborhood a better place to live. Through the years they have successfully engaged the city and other organizations to voice the concerns and get things done.
My parents, Mr. and Mrs. Curtis and Ann Jenkins, hold my grandfather's bible as Pastor Maurice Stargell swears me into office in January 2004.
In 2003, the representative for Ward C on the Newnan City Council, which includes Chalk Level, decided he would step down and not seek re-election. I was asked if I was I interested. I said yes. I ran my campaign on neighborhood revitalization, economic growth and smart-growth for Newnan. I specifically said I would work hard to get a new community center in Chalk Level because the need was so great. After a four person primary and then a run-off, I became the newest, youngest, only woman and only minority on the 2004 city council. Consequently, I made history as the first black woman elected to the Newnan City Council in its 175 year history. Not long after, I started working with my neighbors to find a location, funding source and program for a community center. We looked at Central Educational Center gymnasium, the 13 acre property again, the Verona Rosser Center and a few vacant lots within the neighborhood. We ran into many road blocks, the biggest were funding and the school system not wanting to give up the gym despite it being of no use to them. The Central gymnasium is still not used for anything other than storage as of this writing.
In 2008, the Coweta County School System informed the City that they were abandoning the old Howard Warner School. They were building a new facility and would no longer need the building. The school had once been part of the Newnan Public Schools. In the agreement to integrated the Newnan Public Schools and the Coweta Schools, all buildings that were city-owned prior to integrating the systems would revert back to the city if the county abandoned them. Howard Warner fit this criteria and became a city property once more. The neighbors and I immediately began to work on a proposal to request that the City of Newnan use the facility for a community center and museum to the old Howard Warner High. Other groups outside of the neighborhood had their own ideas of what use the school should serve. They, too, came up with their own proposals to present to council. I attempted to get both groups to work together as I'd been on the steering committee for the other group. That group wanted to open a NAEYC Accredited Early Childhood Learning Center. I agreed that early learning was and still is of great concern in our county. But, the structure they were using wouldn't address the massive need for after-school programming in our neighborhood, nor would their program guarantee space for neighborhood children. It had the potential to lock out the children who live right there in the neighborhood who needed it most. When they turned down a proposal to work together sharing the space with the community-backed programs, I chose the program that would serve more people and that would serve the greatest neighborhood need. Both groups presented to council in November 2008. The citizen request was for the city council to renovate the facility. The request was beautifully presented by Dr. Rebecca Gibson with help from Mr. Rodney Cage. The Early Learning Initiative requested that council donate the building to them and they would renovate the school with $7M they said was committed by a donor. The councilmen at the time did not see it way I did and voted against the neighborhood request. However, the Great Recession caused financial hardship on the Early Learning Initiative and they could not perform.
Meanwhile in 2006, Councilman George Alexander and I worked to convince council to put $500,000 into the 2007 SPLOST budget for a new community recreation center. Then again with the help of Councilman Bob Coggin, we supported allocating an additional $1,000,000 into the 2013 SPLOST for the recreation center creating a fund of $1.5M for a new recreation center in Chalk Level. After it became apparent that the Early Learning Initiative would not fulfill their commitment, I convinced council to form a committee to determine what would be the best use for Howard Warner. We could not let any type of time pass where demolition would be a topic. Too many cities have lost their historic black schools to neglect and disrepair so that the only recourse was demolition. Keeping it a topic of discussion was important to prevent that. The Committee found that without city support, no programs would likely be able to raise the funds needed to renovate and maintain the building. After that, plans went right back into motion on a community center for Howard Warner School. After several other potential locations did not work out, it became apparent that the only place that was left for the SPLOST funded recreation center was the Howard Warner Building. The community rallied again to make the request for a community center in Chalk Level at the Howard Warner School. This time we had a memorandum of understanding from the Boys and Girls Club for an additional location, and tentative commitments from the YMCA for early learning. Many thanks to Bob Coggin for bringing the Boys and Girls Club to the final commitment. He put up a vast majority of the money needed to make it a reality. In the end the YMCA could not make the numbers work for the space allotted. They needed more space for their ratios to work.
The final presentation to council included $3.5M funding request to renovate the Howard Warner School for a community and recreation center with renovation of the 1935 WPA (Works Progress Act) building, demolition of the 1955 equalization school addition and building a new 8,000 square foot conditioned gymnasium. It was approved along with the renovation of the Downtown Fire Department at Wadsworth Auditiorium at the Thurs. March 10, 2016 meeting of the Newnan City Council in a 5-2 vote. The funding sources included $1.7M from the 2007 and 2013 SPLOST, $3.4M for both the Wadsworth and Warner projects from Unallocated Surplus funds, and $15,000 from the Blackwell Trust thanks to Robert Hancock for the warming kitchen adjacent to the new community room in the basement. I could angrily tell you all of the little spats we had over the details like putting brick on the gymnasium, including a kitchen or even threats to not vote for it. But the end result is what matters most. Just understand that this wasn't nearly as easy in details as it is in summary. There were many stressful encounters, many "no"s, and many tears at night over the phone with friends and neighbors. Through it all, we made it.
The construction team, council members and staff at the Groundbreaking for Howard Warner.
The Newnan-Coweta Boys and Girls Club will occupy the building in late July and open in August in both the Wesley Street facility and the new Howard Warner facility. They do have a couple of job openings, so call them at 678-423-0309 if you're interested in applying for a position. The club will serve between 75 and 100 students 6 to 18 years old at the Howard Warner Center. If you'd like to support the Boys and Girls Club at Howard Warner, you can mail a check:
Paid to order of: Newnan-Coweta Boys and Girls Club
72 Wesley Street
Newnan, GA 30263
Memo line: Howard Warner.
The memo is IMPORTANT. It will not be matched if you don't put Howard Warner in the memo line.
Donations to this fund will be matched by the Coggin and Swope families. We are $15,000 away from their $50,000 matching grant challenge! If we raise $50,000, they will match it for a total of $100,000 towards the Howard Warner Boys and Girls Club. Donate today!
We are also excited that the Coweta Community Foundation is raising money for the playground at the Howard Warner Community Center. They are raising $65,000 for the playground project. More information on how to donate will follow.
Members of the Advisory Committee made up of neighborhood association members and organizations that serve the neighborhood on a private tour of the building prior to the opening.
The Howard Warner Community Advisory Committee will meet in June to discuss the community space and to talk about community events and programs. This group will make recommendations to the Newnan City Council on management of the community spaces at Howard Warner. I'm excited to see what this group of community members comes up with for our beloved center.
My paternal grandfather's nephew's completion of elementary school certificate state his readiness for Savannah Street High School.
My paternal aunt, Hazel Jenkins Kennedy, graduating class of 1948 from Savannah Street School (the name prior to renaming it Howard Warner High. She graduated from the 11th grade.
The Newnan-Coweta Historical Society is still gathering memorabilia from the Howard Warner School. They are copying, photographing and collecting all sorts of items from the Howard Warner School days. They are looking for photos, trophies, yearbooks, plaques, newpaper articles, awards, etc to add to their collection. The items will be rotated in a display at the Howard Warner Center. Plans are being discussed to have a Howard Warner exhibit ready for February 2018 in time for black history month.
The Newnan Cultural Arts Commission is also discussing a screening of the Howard Warner Documentary, The Power of Place, a film by Jonathan Hickman during February 2018. It is a powerful film about the Howard Warner School told through the eyes of local historians and those who attended the school. It has been submitted to several film festivals. I hope it gets its due for the wonderful work that it is.
Now that the work to get a building and major program have been done, the HARDER work of providing programs, management, maintenance and continually fundraising to keep those programs thriving is at hand. I and my neighbors will continue to work hard towards that long-term goal of sustainability. Though it took many years to get here, we are ready to stay with it for many more decades to working on our beloved community and "loving our neighbors as we love ourselves" as we're commissioned to do according to Matthew 22:37-39.
I know that was long, but I have been asked to recap my 17 year involvement in the massive effort of many to make the Howard Warner Community and Recreation Center a reality. I did look up a few dates for the purposes of trying to be as detailed as I could. I left out many of the stories that were bad parts of this story that cause much heartbreak over those years. Believe me they are there and many of the neighborhood residents who were involved can tell it just like I can. Nor did I elaborate on my mistakes. Believe me there were many. But for the purposes of this blog, I wanted to remain positive and looking forward to the future. If I see fit to tell those stories later, I will or I may save them for my memoirs. :) Any errors (grammar, spelling or details missed or misstated) that you see, let me know and I'll make efforts to correct them.
My dad playing a little bball on a tour
Painting of Professor Howard Warner that is hanging in the memorabilia display room of the new gymnasium
Howard Warner Center under construction
