Preserve the gym
Editor, The Commercial:
The Southeast Junior-Senior High School Gym is a fantastic piece of Black History in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
To preserve some of the Black History in Pine Bluff, Mayor Washington and City Council Members are asked to please pause the razing of the Southeast Junior-Senior High School Gym.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
To raze this unique structure, designed 65 five years ago and the last of its kind constructed for African American scholars in Pine Bluff, should be paused and reconsidered, and continue the working relationship with the Southeast Junior-Senior High School Historical Society, LLC.
The gym is an icon in this city, and with proper planning, work, and support, the gym can represent Black School History for southeast Arkansas. The opportunity stands before you and the council to save this diamond in the rough.
Therefore, as an alumnus living in Pine Bluff and a member of the Southeast Junior-Senior High School Historical Society, LLC, as well as other concerned alumni in the state and the nation, I appeal to the mayor and the city council to reconsider and save this treasured piece of Black History in Pine Bluff.
Rev. Jesse C. Turner, Class of 1965;
Executive director, Pine Bluff Interested Citizens for Voter Registration Inc.