Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
City to save historically segregated Carver High
DELRAY BEACH – Three buildings at historic Carver High School, a bastion of legal segregation until 1970, will be rescued from destruction after preservationists and alumni convinced Delray Beach to spend more money.
The Palm Beach County School District operates the 14-building site, in the heart of the African-American community, as the Delray Full Service Center, which offers classes for adults who want to improve their literacy, get their high school equivalency diploma or learn to become a home health aide.
The district had planned to save the school gymnasium but raze the other 13 buildings on the decrepit campus at 301 SW 14th Ave. Staffers agreed to rescue three more buildings on Tuesday after meeting with the Delray Beach City Commission.
“The whole campus was the cultural center for all the black folks of Delray Beach,” said Paula
Newman-Rocker, class of 1966, who led the preservation effort. “There was nowhere else for us to go. All that we went through to save it was worth it.”
School district staff met with alumni for almost two years, trying to figure out ways to preserve the aging buildings and stay on budget. To pay for demolition and construction, the district plans to use $10 million from a one-cent sales tax voters approved in 2016.
The original 14 buildings were constructed between 1957 and 1961. The school closed in 1970, when the city merged its white school, Seacrest High, with Carver to create Atlantic Community High School.
“Some of the buildings do need to be knocked down,” said Winniedell Gipson, a 1966 Carver graduate who lives across the street. “But it’s an important place for so many of us. We’re thrilled it will be saved.”
The district had agreed to renovate the gymnasium as an auditorium and community gathering place. On Tuesday, Delray Beach agreed to find money to salvage a two-story administration building, the cafeteria and a third building that School Board member Debra Robinson said she envisioned as a health care center that would serve the neighborhood.
Among the school’s most well-known leaders was Solomon Spady, who worked as principal and teacher. Spady taught in Delray Beach for 35 years and is credited with greatly expanding educational opportunities for his students, including teaching them wood shop, agriculture, drama and sports. An elementary school is named for him, and the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum is on the site of his home.
The renovated gym will serve as an auditorium for use by community groups and Village Academy, a public school that’s right next door to the campus.