Gardendale High School Open House

Friday morning on May 11 at 8:18 am, Dana Yeager sent an e-mail out to the GHS Class of 84 Yahoo group saying GHS was having an open house for the alumni.

"Hey Guys!!

Didn't know if you knew.. For those of you how don't get the North
Jefferson News.
The High School is having an open house tomorrow Sat 5/12 for Alumni to
visit the school before it is torn down this summer.
The open house is 9-11am 5/12/07

Dana"

I never thought I’d be walking down the hallowed halls of GHS ever again, but it just goes to show that there’s a first for everything. While I was there I took several pictures to share with you all as soon as I get them posted.

I also spoke with the Principal and she said as soon as they demolish the current campus, they will start rebuilding a completely new and modern GHS right on the same spot. The main entrance will be facing Main Street, which may or may not be easier for the buses, I don’t know. They will be saving a few of the old sculptures in the quad across from the library and both of the old water fountains to put in a memorial garden once the new school is completed. Rogers Vocational School will be torn down and in its place will be a new baseball and soccer field. They will also have an open house down there sometime in the future. The football field will be renovated as well with a brand new $2M field house, concession stand, and ticket booth. I can’t wait to see the new school when they complete it, which will be about two years from now. I asked her if they will have an open house for the new school and she said yes. Another interesting event that will take place is when they start tearing it down, they will save as many bricks as they can to sell for $10.00 each. There were students posted at all the entrances passing out order forms for the bricks.

I walked into the gym and now it looks better than ever! The color scheme was of course maroon and white, and the floor looked immaculate, although it needed sweeping (how many of you have done that?) Most of the rooms were locked but you could still look inside the window in the door. The band and choir room still looked the same. They even still have the same piano in the choir room that I used to play for concerts. Amazing! I was showing to my daughter all through the school and she really enjoyed seeing where her daddy, aunt, and cousin went to school. She thought it was really big. But to me it seemed smaller than I remember. One of the side effects of growing up I suppose. Oh yeah, Tim Bagwell was true to his word. He asked me if I had a pen or a marker so he could scribble on the bathroom walls one last time. The whole experience took me way back, and although it was 23 to 27 years ago, some of it seemed like it was almost yesterday, or at least last week LOL! I hope it was like that for anyone else that attended the open house.