By: Lara K. Richards
Friday, March 21, 2008
A piece of Wichita Falls history came crashing down this week.
Crews started demolition Tuesday on the old Booker T. Washington Alumni Association building on Flood Street. By Thursday afternoon, only one end of the building remained standing, a jumble of bricks scattered around. The brick building, which had been the Booker T. cafeteria, was the last remaining remnant of the East Side high school.
Alford Hamilton, a member of the alumni association, said seeing the building come down is a sad end to the campus’ glory days. Yet, the demolition is also the beginning of a new phase. “I recognize that it’s time for it to go,” he said. “I hate to see the landmark go, but I’m pleased with the end result.”
That “result” will be a new $8.5 million apartment complex called the Washington Village Apartments, which is slated for completion in the spring of 2009, according to previous Times Record News reports. The affordable-living complex will feature 96 units, with a combination of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. The site will include a 5,000-square-foot clubhouse-community center, a business center, a fitness center and a kitchen, along with numerous other amenities.
In homage to the site’s historic importance in Wichita Falls, and especially to graduates of Booker T., the complex will feature a room for use by alumni, Hamilton said.
“There will be a special room in the complex that will be dedicated to the alumni association,” he said. “All of the trophies and pictures that were displayed in the old building will be displayed in that room.”
Currently, the historic photos and items are safely tucked away in storage, he said.
Hamilton said he had heard the complex might also try to incorporate even more Booker T. history into its design. “If the architect could design it into it, they may even use some of the brick from the old building in there,” he said.
The sight of the old cafeteria coming down was a sad one for many former graduates, Hamilton said. Unfortunately, since the old building was in desperate need of repair, an affordable option to save the structure could never be found, he said. “It had asbestos in it,” Hamilton said. “It would have cost money that we didn’t have to spend.”
Construction crews have worked for several weeks on asbestos abatement in the building before beginning demolition. Workers are currently conducting asbestos abatement in the old elementary school that sits next door. A superintendent on the work site said that process should be completed in about three weeks and then that structure would be demolished as well.
The project is being developed by Realtex Development Corporation, which also owns the Woodview Apartments on 32nd Street in Wichita Falls.
Hamilton said the apartments could be a major boost for the East Side neighborhood and might lead to additional projects in the future. “The community needs the apartment complex,” he said. “Part of the problem with development on the East Side is that there is not enough people living there. This will help.”