Historic Dudley School on track to become community center
A former Dudley School student is working to revitalize the school by turning it into a community center.
District 5 Alamogordo City Commissioner Sharon McDonald attended Dudley School and alongside the Tularosa Basin Historical Society is working toward bringing the historical school back to use as a community center.
"I'm elated that they're doing the Dudley School renovation," McDonald said. "It's exciting to see something that is in that state from being talked about and the plans are in the works to get something in the community going. That makes a big difference for (Alamogordo City Commission) District 5."
Alamogordo District 5 runs north just past Indian Wells Road and White Sands Boulevard, south along U.S. Highway 70 past Alamogordo White Sands Regional Airport almost to Boles Acres, and includes the areas around LaVelle Road and Walker Avenue.
Currently there are no elementary schools in Alamogordo City Commission District 5.
Sacramento Elementary School, on Alaska Avenue, was the only elementary school in McDonald's city commission district. It was demolished in December 2020.
The former Sacramento Elementary School location is being turned into a park with the basketball court and play area being refurbished.
From February 2022:Alamogordo revisits turning historic Dudley School into new community center
"The lifeline for any community is the youth and I just think that part really speaks volumes, because when you have children, or youth, you know that the community is going to continue and grow," McDonald said. "When you start losing your children (to growing up or moving away), you're headed for decline."
The Tularosa Basin Historical Society is organizing the project which is volunteer-led, Joe Lewandowski of the Tularosa Basin Museum of History said.
The Dudley School was built in 1914 and began as a transitional school for Hispanic children to learn English. After integration, it was housed Kindergarteners through first graders from the surrounding neighborhoods before sending the students on to a regular Alamogordo elementary school.
The school had four classrooms which the Tularosa Basin Historical Society plans to reestablish. There were two large classrooms and two medium-sized ones that will be used as meeting rooms when the community center is completed, Lewandowski said.
Walls and toilet facilities were added to the building when it was a halfway house decades ago. The Historical Society plans to remove the walls that were added in the 1970s and 1980s.
The building has been unoccupied for at least 20 years.
But one structure will remain: the white porcelain water fountain near the front door that dates back to the building's time as a school.
The plan also includes tearing out the linoleum and plywood and refurbishing the hardwood floors underneath.
The floors at Dudley School are similar to those at the old Plaza restaurant where the Tularosa Basin Museum of History now resides on the corner on White Sands Boulevard and 10th Street.
For more information about Dudley School or how to help, call Tularosa Basin Historical Society at 575-434-4438.
Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter.
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This article originally appeared on Alamogordo Daily News: Historic Dudley School on track to become community center
