Page 15 - Florida Sentinel 10-12-18

Feature
District Plans To Rebuild Historic School
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Although the city did not experi- ence a head on collision with Hurri- cane Irma, the entire Tampa Bay Area felt its impact. On September 12, 2017, the City experienced widespread power outages.
Employees of Tampa Electric worked continuously to restore the power to its customers. The power was restored in the area of Tampa Street and E. Columbus Drive. However, no one anticipated that the restoration would result in a major fire.
But on that Tuesday evening, a fire erupted at the historic Robert E. Lee Elementary School, 305 E. Columbus Drive.
At the time of the fire, Jason Penny, spokesman for the Tampa Fire Department, said the fire was re- ported at 6:45 p.m. When firefighters arrived at the scene, they were met with heavy smoke and flames coming from the northeast portion of the roof.
It took firefighters 8 hours to bring the blaze under control.
Now, a year of negotiations with the insurance companies, Superin-
HISTORIC ROBERT E. LEE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
build the school, then they will receive only funding to replace lost items de- stroyed by the fire.
According to the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser’s Office, the building was valued at $2,700,000 and its contents were valued at $2,275,000. The damage to the school was estimated at $4,975,000.
Its History
The school came into existence in 1906 and was known as Michigan Av- enue Grammar School. In 1943, the school was relocated to 305 E. Colum- bus Drive, and its name was changed at that time. It was the first brick school building in Hillsborough County.
It was renovated in 1989, and won a local historic preservation award. It also became the first magnet school in the county.
In 2005, it was renamed Robert E. Lee Elementary School of Technology and World Studies, in honor of the Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
At the time of the fire, there was a movement to have the school re- named.
tendent Jeff Eakins will seek ap- proval from the Hillsborough County School Board to rebuild the historic school. He will make the request at the regular board meeting on Tuesday, October 16th. If approved, JE Dunn Construction and Fleischman Garcia & Planners will work with the insurance companies to move forward.
If approved, representatives from the insurance companies will review all bids. Both insurers and district leaders will then agree on the plans. The payment will be made directly to the Construction Company and the de- sign team.
The school district will not receive the check and if they decide not to re-
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2018 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3-B