Columbus historic site among Georgia's 10 Places in Peril

Claflin School, the abandoned first public school for black children in Columbus and the historic site a grassroots organization is trying to revive, is among the state's 10 Places in Peril.

The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation announced its annual list Wednesday.

The Rev. Richard Jessie, the Friends of Historic Claflin's executive director for restoration, expects the recognition to boost the group's fundraising ability.

"It's wonderful, it's great," he told the Ledger-Enquirer. "It's going to add another level of concern and support."

Claflin was an elementary school from 1868 to 1973. A fire destroyed the original building in 1958. Two buildings remain on the site at Fifth Avenue and Linwood Boulevard: an eight-classroom structure with tile constructed in 1921 and a 12-classroom brick structure constructed in 1948.

From 1973 until 2005, the Muscogee County School District used Claflin for administrative offices. Since then, the facility has been vacant and vandalized.

The Muscogee County School Board declared Claflin surplus property in 2013 and deeded it to the Columbus Consolidated Government. In April 2014, city officials said they couldn't find any developer interested in restoring Claflin, because of the deed's stipulation that it must be used for an educational purpose, so its ownership would revert to the federal government if nobody came through with a viable plan.

Friends of Claflin School formed to do exactly that. In November 2014, the group presented a $10.8 million proposal, based on a feasibility study from 2WR Architects of Columbus. It would renovate Claflin's two buildings totaling 36,557 square feet into a multipurpose education center. It would include a Headstart preschool program, a school for autistic students, adult education programs, the Columbus Urban Debate League, the Columbus Black History Museum and Archive, a senior day care center, a veterans service center and classrooms for local colleges. It also would contain a welcome center, a souvenir shop and a food court featuring local cuisine.

The FOHC got Claflin listed on the Georgia Register of Historic Places, but the Internal Revenue Service hadn't approved its May application for status as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization until the group received a verbal OK last month, Jessie said.

"We are just waiting for the letter from the IRS," he said.

The delay has hampered the group's ability to raise money and secure liability insurance - and the city government won't lease the property or grant the group access to it until then.

But within a week, Jessie said, "we're hoping to get our insurance and sign a lease agreement."

The other nine sites on the trust's Places in Peril list are:

Teardowns in Atlanta's historic neighborhoods

Bobby Jones Golf Course in Atlanta

Children of Israel Synagogue and Court of Ordinary in Augusta

Gene Theater in McRae-Helena

Hawkes Children's Library in Jackson

Hudson-Nash House and Cemetery in Lilburn

Johns Homestead in Tucker

Norcross Woman's Club Old Library in Gwinnett County

Riverside Cemetery in Macon

"Places in Peril is designed to raise awareness about Georgia's significant historic, archaeological and cultural resources," the trust said in a news release, "including buildings, structures, districts, archaeological sites and cultural landscapes that are threatened by demolition, neglect, lack of maintenance, inappropriate development or insensitive public policy."

Mark Rice, 706-576-6272. Follow him on Twitter@MarkRiceLE.

This story was originally published November 11, 2015 at 5:19 PM with the headline "Columbus historic site among Georgia's 10 Places in Peril ."