Arlington School (Bessemer)
The Arlington School was the first high school for the city of Bessemer. The 3-story brick and limestone Classical revival-style was constructed in 1908. It was later converted into an elementary school before it closed in 1986.
The school features a jewel-box theater with a raked floor and horseshoe balcony. The basketball gym is lit by skylights.
The vacant building was listed as one of the Alabama Historical Commission's "Places in Peril" for 2003.
Various groups have proposed an adaptive re-use for the structure, including the Rainbow Community Development Corporation which was working with Sloss Real Estate to attempt to redevelop the building in 2004. That plan never came to fruition and Sloss returned its conditional title to the board. More recently B3 (Bring Bessemer Back) has submitted a $1.8 million redevelopment plan to the board which would convert the school into offices for non-profit groups and re-use the auditorium for community functions.
On January 15, 2008 the Bessemer School Board declared the school building to be "surplus", opening the door for it to be sold. In August 2008 inspectors for the City of Bessemer deemed the structure unsafe, meaning that the board must bring it up to current code before it can be sold or reused. In October 2012 the Board began asking for bids to demolish the building.
References
- Nance, Rahkia (January 16, 2008) "Arlington school declared surplus." The Birmingham News
- Nance, Rahkia (August 20, 2008) "Bessemer city inspectors condemn historic Arlington School building." The Birmingham News
- Anderson, Jon (October 16, 2012) "Bessemer school board to seek bids to demolish 104-year-old Arlington School." The Birmingham News