The building known as Tallassee High School has stood since 1929. In just a few months, it will be coming down.
Many have been educated in the structure that is a centerpiece of the community on Barnett Boulevard. So, these are sentimental times for the alumni of THS.
There is a plan for the new school, scheduled for completion in August of 2022, to emulate the look of the current high school. In addition, some parts of the building will be incorporated into the new facility.
"We have some selected retainage," Tallassee City Schools superintendent Dr. Brock Nolin said. "We're going to retain about 5,000 bricks, roughly 5,000 square feet of the hardwood flooring and all of the joists. You won't see a wrecking ball out there."
The process of deconstuction will allow the construction to mesh the old with the new.
"We're going to salvage at least one of the pendants on the front of the school," Nolin added. "It's important to get at least one of those down intact, so we can do castings and replicas. At the new building we will have several of those. Some of the columns and archways, we want to reuse some of those materials. It will be meticulous at first.
"People ask about having keepsakes. I have an idea of having a coffee table book called, "The Old School." People will have an opportunity in the near future to a purchase brick and a book."
Some of the old bricks could also be reused as pavers on the campus.
"Once they've taken the pieces apart that we're going to retain, the ownership transfers over to Nearen Construction to dispose of it."
Nolin understands the connection with the school and the community.
"My daughter's the fourth generation that have walked through those (halls). I'm sure there are those that are fifth and sixth generations. It is sentimental. That's really why the new school facade on the academic side will look much like the old one."