— Calvin Sneed
THOR STORY COURTESY THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS, JANUARY 9, 2009
By MATTHEW LANE
mlane@timesnews.net
KINGSPORT — In the coming weeks, the renovation and expansion of the V.O. Dobbins Community Center will begin. To commemorate the start of the longawaited project, the South Central Community will hold “The Last Great Program at Douglass High School” in the center’s auditorium Saturday afternoon.
Photo by Erica Yoon —eyoon@timesnews.net
LARRY HUNLEY, CUSTODIAN AT THE V.O. DOBBINS COMMUNITY CENTER, SWEEPS THE FLOOR OF THE AUDITORIUM AT THE CENTER ON THURSDAY. THE AUDITORIUM WILL HOST "THE LAST GREAT PROGRAM AT DOUGLASS HIGH SCHOOL ON SATURDAY
The program begins at noon in the auditorium and will include music from several community churches, speeches from Mayor Dennis Phillips and Jack Pierce (a member of the 1947-48 state championship football team), an update on the project from the city, video interviews of former Douglass teachers, and a walk-through of the entire facility.
Photo by Erica Yoon —eyoon@timesnews.net BOXES OF BOOKS ARE SET FOR SATURDAY'S DOUGLASS SCHOOL BOOK FAIR
A book fair will also be held at the center from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday.
The V.O. Dobbins Center is a city-owned community center located between Louis and Wheatley streets in Riverview. The building served as Kingsport’s “blacks only” school from 1951 to 1966 and was named Douglass High School.
Kingsport plans to expand and renovate the center, demolishing 13,600 square feet of the existing building, renovating the remaining 46,000 square feet, and adding approximately 50,000 square feet of space — 27,910 of which will be a new nonprofit center.
The first phase of the project is the demolition of the auditorium — the site of the new nonprofit wing. Demolition is expected to begin in early February and will include some asbestos removal. The city will be going out to bid on the renovation and expansion phase of the project in March or April.
Calvin Sneed, with the Douglass Alumni Association, said many people do not realize the only part of the building that is going to be completely torn down during the project is the auditorium.
THIRD GRADE DOUGLASS SCHOOL STUDENTS JOHN CAMPBELL, NATALIE SMITH, CALVIN SNEED AND VICKIE WOOD REHEARSE FOR 'LE MI-CARAMEME.' SNEED, NOW WITH THE DOUGLASS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, SAID SUCH PLAYS WERE A FIXURE AT THE SCHOOL - WITH EACH TEACHER REQUIRED TO HAVE AT LEAST ONE PLAY OR PROGRAM PER YEAR“In that auditorium there were over the years so many good programs. Mr Dobbins, when he was the principal, required every teacher to have at least one play or program per year that was not a singing contest. This was a performing contest. All of the kids from class on stage doing things,” Sneed said. “”It was the first big gathering place in the neighborhood, always open for plays, concerts, recitals, in addition to school programs. If you needed the auditorium, all you needed to do was talk to Mr. Dobbins, and he would make sure it was open for everybody.”
Sneed, along with Johnnie Mae Swagerty, worked to organize and coordinate Saturday’s event.
One of the highlights will be video interviews with former teachers of Douglass High School including Jill Ellis, Joyce Long, Jessie Charles, Thelma Webb, Bob Deering, Coty Deering and Peggy Welker Baylor.
Sneed said there has been a tremendous response to the program, noting how the two were surprised by the response for the event marking the demolition of the Riverview Apartments.
“We said we needed to do this same thing when they start Douglass. It’s going to look totally different and not look like the school we had for years and years,” Sneed said. “We take it for granted that the building is always going to be there. It’s been a pillar and a rock in the community. People pass by it every day, and they forget the things that happened there, the good things that happened there.
“With it being renovated, instead of it being our building, it’s going to become Kingsport’s building. It’s all of Kingsport’s history and not just for South Central and Riverview.”
Photo by Erica Yoo n -eyoon@timesnews.net LARRY HUNLEY LOOKS OVER A CRUMBLING WALL IN A STAIRCASE LEADING TO THE AUDITORIUM BALCONY AT THE V.O. DOBBINS COMMUNITY CENTER. HE SAID THE WALL HAS CONTINUED TO CRUMBLE FOR YEARS, DESPITE NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS TO FIX IT
Due to asbestos remediation and high costs, the auditorium was deemed for demolition early on in the concept phase of the project. When the project is complete, the building will look completely different than it is now — a new three-story nonprofit wing and second gymnasium added to the site.
“I think it will be (bittersweet). I think there will be a sense of sorrow that the building is losing its identity, but we’re going to be there to maintain the integrity. We stand to gain so much by maintaining that building and remembering the legacy of the students,” Sneed said. “(Changing the building) bothers me in a way. Change is inevitable. If it’s for the betterment of the community, then let’s just get it over with. After awhile the realization was this needs to be done to save the building.”
