want to make it what it should be’|[05/17/07]

A historic Vicksburg property, hallowed school grounds to thousands, has been sold.

Its new owner plans to renovate the 83-year-old former Carr Central, an eyesore along Cherry Street for decades, back to its glory days.

&#8220I pass by the building just about every day, and it’s sad to see – it’s an eyesore,” said Warren County builder and remodeling contractor Webber Brewer, who purchased the property Tuesday from Vicksburg resident Robert Rosenthal.

For years, Brewer has wanted to buy the property that opened as Carr School in 1924. It closed its doors in 1979 and has remained vacant since. Rosenthal, who has owned the property since 1999, was happy to sell Brewer the building, &#8220because he knew I was going to restore it,” he said.

&#8220I am going to work and restore it to make it a viable piece of property in Vicksburg,” Brewer said.

While he wants to clean up the property before announcing his plans, Brewer knows what he won’t do with the building and the five acres of land that loom over Cherry.

&#8220It won’t be any low-cost apartments,” he said. &#8220Whatever I’m thinking about doing will be very nice for downtown Vicksburg.”

Rosenthal purchased the old school from the city for $55,000 with plans to convert it into an assisted living facility for the elderly. The city owned the building for 20 years before selling it to Rosenthal under the condition that he meet deadlines for financing the project and beginning construction. Deadlines passed, but the city didn’t want the building back. The building has shattered windows and a dilapidated interior. And its yard, home to a centuries-old live oak tree, is covered in debris and overgrown grass.

Brewer, who wouldn’t say how much he paid for the property, doesn’t plan to let any of that grass grow under his feet, he said. In fact, he was already off to get permits to clean the grounds and start work on the roof about 24 hours after buying the property. His son, David Brewer of DAB Realty, will act as developer on the project, while he will oversee construction, he added.

&#8220I hope to get started immediately,” he said. &#8220I’m 63 – I don’t have a lot of time to waste.”

He expects the project to take about two years, and one way he plans on speeding it up is to pay for it out of private funds.

&#8220It’s going to be a personal deal,” he said. &#8220I’m not looking for grants. All that does is put limitations on your project.”

For years, Rosenthal applied for tax credits from the Mississippi Home Corporation, but was turned down every time for funding, and no work was done. Mayor Laurence Leyens said he is happy the property is in Brewer’s hands.

&#8220We are thrilled about this,” he said. &#8220It’s the last of the big properties I wanted dealt with, and I feel confident that Webber will carry it out with an outstanding outcome.”

Brewer, who said he will work closely with the Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation, hopes to get to work immediately and will rely heavily on the support of the city.

&#8220I’m pretty sure the city’s going to work with us. I hope that they will,” he said. &#8220We hope to get all the people who went to school here interested” also.

Brewer, a graduate of Culkin High School, knows what the old Carr Central means to its graduates, former students and the community, many of whom pass by it daily.

The building served all grades at various times, but most often is remembered as the city’s main high school. Keeping the name that is etched in mortar above the large staircase is a must for the developer.

&#8220Who would ever try to change the name of this building? That’s the whole purpose of my doing this,” he said. &#8220I want to go back and take this property and make it what it should be.”

For Ethel Lagrone Pickens, a 1953 graduate of Carr Central High School, the building’s hallways and classrooms live on in her memory.

&#8220It was a fabulous contribution to this world that we lived in. When it was a high school, Vicksburg was a very close community,” she said. &#8220It was the center of our world and gave us so much. I know you can’t put a human element into brick and stone, but it meant so much to us – it’s like a part of us.”

In 2004, Pickens organized an all-class reunion for her alma mater, which brought more than 700 graduates and classmates from classes 1933 through 1959 back home to Vicksburg. The following year, former students raised the funds to have a historical mural painted along the city’s floodwall. The mural was unveiled in 2006 at the second annual reunion, where fellow schoolmates also cleaned the grounds of their old school and placed a bench from the schoolyard in front of the mural.

Carr Central &#8220really meant a lot to a lot of people,” Pickens said.

The Carr building, named for Vicksburg superintendent J.P. Carr, was declared a protected state historical property in 1994, which means it can’t be demolished without state approval, and any changes to the structure have to be approved by the Department of Archives and History.

Brewer and his wife, Carolyn, have restored numerous historic properties, including a pre-Civil War cabin and the Baer House on Grove Street, since he began his business, Brewer Construction, in 1971.

&#8220They are true preservationists,” said Nancy Bell, director of the historic preservation foundation.

Brewer said he has witnessed many historic properties being torn down and doesn’t want that to happen to the treasured Carr building.

&#8220Can you imagine if this were torn down? It would be one of the worst things. I’m not going to let that happen,” he said. &#8220If all falls through, I will make it a personal home, and I will live here. We will get this project done.”

THROUGH THE YEARS

1924 – School opens as Carr School, named for John P. Carr, superintendent of the Vicksburg Public Schools at the time.

1924-1932 – Accommodated kindergarten, elementary and junior high students, as well as administrative offices for the superintendent and staff.

1932 – Became Carr Central High School, serving as the city’s only white high school.

1958 – Last class graduates from Carr Central High School before the completion of H.V. Cooper High School, which opened the following fall at City Park.

1959 – Became Carr Junior High School and, in later years, racially mixed.

1979 – After serving as a middle school for several years, the doors are closed and officials discover the city, not the school district, holds the deed to the building and land.

1990 – School’s gymnasium destroyed in arson fire.

1994 – Building slated for demolition, but granted a reprieve when declared a protected state historical property.

1999 – City sells property to local businessman Robert Rosenthal for $55,000; building remains vacant.

2004 – Graduates hold first all-class reunion for Carr Central High School graduates and classmates from classes 1933-1958.

October 2006 – Vicksburg Riverfront Mural depicting Carr Central High School in the 1950s unveiled at City Front; second annual all-class reunion held.

Tuesday – Carr Central building sold to local builder Webber Brewer.