Villiage School has lain fallow for too many years… UNA Students help in cleanup

SHEFFIELD – The old school was built back in the 1918 before the Tennessee Valley Authority came to Northwest Alabama. Those were the days, when TVA was young and had a mission to transform this part of America.

Later, in the days of the Roosevelt Presidency, more and more folks were moving into Sheffield, not just for work at TVA, but for the jobs in the various industies and supporting trades. It’s not the same now. Sure, if you’re looking down from an airplane, Village One still looks like the Liberty Bell. But upon close inspection, the once grand Village School has suffered the insult of not being relevant anymore. Years of inattention and vandalism have left their mark.

Things could be changing.

This week students from UNA, Lions Lend A Hand volunteer group made their way over to Village School to help the old place get a cleanup. The students have lots of choices of places in North Alabama where they can help. But according to UNA student Kelsey Graham, the group thought that helping out at this project was really important.

So they showed up with Sheffield City Council Member Steve Stanley and architect David Milstead and began to dig-in. They started by removing various articles of junk from the floors and, if that wasn’t enough, they took hammers and 2×4’s to the walls. It was Ok… The walls were not a part of the original architecture. David Milstead kept an eagle-eye on the demolition.

With a little luck and a long-handled spoon, the project will morph into a full-blown restoration project. It will take a bit of time, but things look quite promising for the old Village School.

Here’s a list of the folks who came by to help:

Sarah Wilson, Katie Poole, Jennifer Perry, Drew Jones, Kaylee Thomas, Aleigha Edwards, Christian McAllister, Alec Prince, Jackson Townson, Andrew Butler, Josh Sanderson .

Here are some photos: