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By Scott Mims | Community Columnist

In recent weeks, a group of volunteers cleaned up the columns and steps that stand on the former property of Chilton County High School and Henry M. Adair Junior High School. They also landscaped around the area and gave the structure a fresh coat of paint.

In the past, I have always heard mixed reactions from people in the community about the condition of the site. While some have regarded the old front entrance as a memorial, others have viewed it as an eyesore. In a way, I have agreed with both of these assessments — and I believe it is always important to share different perspectives.

Personally, I thought it was a good decision to leave the columns standing because I found it comforting to drive past the marker of my former school, recalling memories from days gone by, and the visual reminder certainly helped to bring those memories to the forefront of my mind.

However, I was always disappointed in the condition of the area and I thought it was a missed opportunity for something greater; although I do not know if anyone had the vision of what that could be. Some floated the idea of a park, and I thought that was a fine idea.

Along came Jerry and Vickie Grooms, who started coming up with a plan to beautify the property about a year ago. That all came to fruition within the last two to three weeks, with the permission of the Chilton County Board of Education and with the help of several volunteers.

Be on the lookout for a story in The Clanton Advertiser about this community effort on the front page. You can see visuals of this project on the Facebook page “CCHS Historical Structure Beautification Project.”

Thanks to all those who gave of their time, energy, money and materials to make this project happen. I am looking forward to seeing where this goes — I think it would be fitting to have some kind of plaque on site with historical information. Who knows? Those steps might serve as the entrance of a future building one day, if possible.

Scott Mims is a freelance writer, editor and photographer who is a lifelong resident of Chilton County.