BITS & PIECES: Razing history

Our friend who stocks dairy at Walmart is on our mind this morning. Not because his workload in coming days will be busy with customers flocking, for unknown reasons, to his domain of the supermarket in search of the last gallon of milk, but because of his demeanor one recent Sunday when we exchanged how-are-ya’s. He was feeling down because Central Primary School, which he attended as a child, had been demolished. We didn’t share the sentiment, as our own opinion is that some buildings around town, regardless of their historical significance, simply need to go. The Central campus was one of them.

Included in the demolition was a landmark of actual historic significance: the Domestic Science Building. Erected in 1917 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in the 1980s, the DSB was “unusual in its eclectic blend of Prairie Style and Colonial Revival elements.” CLICK HERE to read more about its design, history and use by the school district. Seemingly overnight, the DSB was dozed over. Hardly an eyebrow was raised. It was one of 20 sites in Arkadelphia on the National Register of Historic Places.

Some have asked how its demolition was allowed. Simply put, it’s the landowner’s prerogative. According to the Department of Arkansas Heritage, a listing in the National Register of Historic Places provides recognition that a property is of significance to the nation, state or the community; a listing also may change the way a community perceives its historic resources and gives credibility to preserve them as living parts of the community. However, the status does not interfere with a private property owner’s right to alter, manage or dispose of property.

To borrow a line from Joni Mitchell, some folks feel that the new landowner sort of paved paradise and put up a parking lot. He had every right to do so. Our hope is that whatever is built next on the property will benefit the community and impact Arkadelphians for generations to come.

On a similar note, the live oak at the southwest corner of the lot — paradise to countless youth who played or pondered in its perpetual shade at recess — will eventually be felled to make way for the addition of a turning lane on Pine Street. There’s a lot of history on that block, although much of it is recorded only in the memories of those kids, many of whom are now in their 50s. The progress of man trumps his nostalgia. 

Roger that?

Joel Phelps is editor of arkadelphian.com. Opinions expressed in Bits & Pieces are his own. E-mail him at editor@arkadelphian.com. Ooh, bop-bop-bop-bop.