Corinth officials seek state approval to demolish former Black school
Aug. 15—TUPELO — The city of Corinth's plans to demolish the former home of an all-Black high school has hit a snag, forcing the city to seek state approval before potentially tearing the building down.
Corinth Mayor Ralph Dance said Monday that the city's plan to raze the Easom Community Center, once home to an all-Black school, has stalled in the face of state regulations. According to Dance, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History must approve of the city-owned building's destruction because it is over 50 years old. The city must make a detailed request through MDAH before it can proceed.
The next meeting of the MDAS Board of Trustees is in October. If the board gives the OK, Corinth officials will move ahead with the building's destruction.
If the board rejects the request, Dance said the city and board of Aldermen will go back to the drawing board.
"If they say no, we will regroup and start from there," he said.
Cook Coggin Engineers, the same company that is in charge of the engineering for the demolition, is overseeing the request process. The council voted to demolish the building in a 4-2 vote in early July.
Not everyone is eager to see the aging structure demolished. Throughout the process, a group of graduates and advocates, including the Alcorn County branch of the NAACP, have held multiple rallies and meetings attempting to save the building, which operated as South Corinth High School until 2009.
Before that, decades ago, the building served as Easom High School, a segregated Black school that graduated students between 1953 and 1969 before forced desegregation.
Instead of tearing the building down, the group has pushed to have it placed on the MDAS historic landmark registry. City officials rejected that proposal, citing the building's poor condition and the cost of renovating it.
Advocates hope the registry status will lead to state and federal grants for the building's restoration.
