EAGLE LAKE, Fla — For months, Eagle Lake residents have been fighting to save a historic schoolhouse from demolition. Now that they’ve won a major victory, the work to preserve the 100-year-old building is just beginning.
“I just couldn’t imagine this being torn down. I just couldn’t,” said Diana Allen, director of Eagle Lake Historical Society.
Allen’s mission to save Eagle Lake’s historic red brick schoolhouse started months ago. Back in May, Allen reached out to Tampa Bay 28 reporter Rebecca Petit, concerned no one was stepping up to save the building.
“I just didn’t understand why this building had to come down since it’s still a good-shape building,” Allen said.
Her call for help sparked a community movement and eventually, a new historical society.
“We got a few key people together to figure out how to save this building. We put a lot of work into it, but we had a lot of people in this community that came together. They spoke, they wore the t-shirts, had the red ribbons. They just stayed involved,” said Rhonda Dorman, treasurer of Eagle Lake Historical Society.
The newly formed Eagle Lake Historical Society dug through city records and researched the building’s history.
“It’s funny how you can get ordinary citizens to make a huge change,” Dorman said.
That change came Aug. 3, when city commissioners unanimously rescinded the demolition bid. Now, Allen says the goal is to make the schoolhouse a community gathering place with a museum upstairs. The group has already gotten a taste of that future with a back-to-school event.
“We had about 50 people come and get school supplies before school started and it was wonderful to have these doors open for that,” Allen said.
The society says the roof has already been repaired, and its next priorities include the building’s mortar, walls and plaster. They hope to celebrate the school’s 100th birthday with a party later this year.
“With reaching out to you, it helped shine a light on and helped everybody see, come out, and the community got involved. And it was more than my voice,” Allen said.
The Eagle Lake Historical Society is now working to identify grants, in addition to what the City will provide for repairs.
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