Acworth approves Rosenwald School upgrade

The Acworth Board of Aldermen voted recently to repair the city’s Rosenwald School.

Capital Construction Inc. will receive $9,120 to restore the foundation and support structure of the school and a purchase order of $10,000 to cover “any unforeseen conditions.”

This school is one of 5,300 built by Julius Rosenwald, philanthropist and president of Sears Roebuck and Co., for black children in 15 Southern states from 1912 to 1932 with 242 in Georgia and nearly 50 still standing.

Owned now by the city as a rental facility and called the Rosenwald School Community Center, it was built in 1924 on School Street but reopened at 4410 Cherokee St. in 1953 by the city’s black community to save it from demolition by the county in the late 1940s.

In other matters, the board:

• awarded $1,285,915 to Baldwin Paving Co. Inc. for road improvements to Blue Springs Road with a $1,355,000 purchase order for unforeseen conditions.
• agreed to pay $52,347 to W.E. Contracting for the repair a 30-inch culvert at 4726 Pinecrest Drive plus a $75,000 purchase order to cover unforeseen conditions.
• prohibited street parking in the Grove Park subdivision between midnight and 6 a.m.