The Butler Center, formerly E.E. Butler High School, and its campus will soon undergo some changes.
Gainesville City Schools Superintendent Jeremy Williams reported Monday night at the school board meeting as an item of information plans for American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ARP/ESSER III) funding to go towards services for students and families that included the Butler Center.
"This has given us an opportunity to kind of expand the services that are provided to our students and family in that area, but also just in that geographic area of the city. And when you look at, you know 8,000 students across our entire district across the city, sometimes the services we're able to provide don't fit within the schedule of a regular school day," said Williams to AccessWDUN.
Currently, Ninth District Opportunity operates Head Start out of a portion of the Butler Center.
The long awaited Butler Park will also be built on the property. A groundbreaking is scheduled for November 4 at 4 p.m.
“I am extremely pleased to see all of the pieces of this puzzle come together for our community,” Hall County District 4 Commissioner Jeff Stowe said. “It has been a privilege to lobby alongside nearby residents for a park in this area for some time now, and I firmly believe both of these facilities will serve and benefit the residents of District 4 for generations to come.”
E.E. Butler High School was an all Black high school that closed during integration. While some portions have been used by Ninth District Opportunity and other organizations, another portion of the school has remained seemingly untouched since its closure in 1969. The former high school is located on Athens Street.
Williams said the understanding with Ninth District Opportunity is to revitalize those areas using the funding.
And as we were, were planning how to utilize funds to the best of our abilities, there was another conversation that was taking place about revitalization of the gym, classroom space, and the locker room space there at the Butler Center," said Williams. "And it kind of dawned on us that, what a great opportunity to take some of these pieces that are in the community, and really recreate kind of the excitement around Butler Center, the former Butler High School, but also being able to extend our services beyond The Hub and into more of that preschool setting, that birth to five, while also expanding the services we have for K-12 students and families."
As both projects get moving, Newtown Florist Club Executive Director Rev. Rose Johnson said the club would be hosting a Community meeting on Oct. 26 at 11 a.m. via Facebook Live on the Newtown Florist Facebook page to discuss the projects ahead of the Nov. 4 groundbreaking.
