What do you get when you combine a couple of civic and preservation-minded local residents, a sum of money, a historic building and a class of middle school ag students?
You get a school beautification project.
Last week, FFA students at Turkey Creek Middle School, led by ag teacher Jessica Hawkins, planted low-maintenance foliage around the front entrance of the historic Turkey Creek School building that sits vacant on the school property. The project was funded by leftover money the nonprofit Turkey Creek High School Alumni and Friends Association Inc., established in 1997, had to spend to close its account. After partnering with the school board to install a new fence around the historic structure, their account still held a couple hundred dollars. After careful consideration, they decided to purchase plants to beautify the front of the building. Ag students, eager to get their hands dirty, assisted with the project.
Dee Dee Grooms and Dana Fortinberry, whose alumni association boasts more than 600 members on its Facebook page, is grateful for the community support for their fundraisers through the years. From a brick fundraiser to golf tournament, members of the community raised funds to support the aging structure. “We wanted to let everyone know what we’re doing with the money because it had been sitting in an account for years,” said Fortinberry. “We needed to dissolve the account but wanted to put the money to good use and if nothing else we’ll have the outside looking good.”
Turkey Creek School has witnessed generations of students pass through its hallowed halls. It was a symbol of pride and a testament to the community’s commitment to education. However, in recent decades, those hallowed halls have fallen into disrepair and its future remains uncertain. Currently it sits vacant, the newer school buildings surrounding it as a reminder that, once a building becomes worn out, it can be replaced.
“I was in one of the last middle school classes in the mid-90s to attend school in the building and it was really cool,” said Hawkins.
The very first Turkey Creek School, established in 1873, was actually a one-room log cabin. In 1908, the initial five-acre property was purchased by the Hillsborough County School Board from Tampa Bay Land and Lumber Company and a two-story frame building was constructed on the site. Six students graduated from the school, named Turkey Creek High School, between 1908 and 1909. The following year, the school board closed the high school and, until 1928, it served as a primary school, serving students in grades one through eight.
The school was fondly referred to as a “strawberry school,” which opened in summer and closed in winter so students could help their parents, many of whom owned farms, with the strawberry harvest.
In 1927, a two-story brick building was completed (the building that still stands on the property today) and once again high school courses were added to Turkey Creek School. The last senior class graduated from the school in 1972, when Turkey Creek, Pinecrest, Plant City and Marshall high schools were consolidated into one school: Plant City Consolidated Senior High School.
Fortinberry and Grooms were members of the last graduating class.
They became advocates for the building ever since the 1990s, when they learned from then-principal Ron Frost the school board wanted to tear down the structure and erect a parking lot, they’ve advocated for the building’s survival. “I ran into Dee Dee at the old K-mart and she said something needed to be done to save the building, that’s how it started,” said Fortinberry.
In 2001, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
No task was too challenging. “My brother-in-law Ludo Van Den Bogaert was instrumental in getting a matching grant from the state,” said Fortinberry. “He filled out the grant application and then we took a group of people and drove to Tallahassee to a meeting with the State Historic Preservation Board where we tried to get the grant money.”
They were awarded a grant to repurpose the building but when the school district told them they were going to reopen the building to use as classes again, they had to give the money back to the state. The district later reneged and the building continued to sit empty.
“I was so mad that I went to our school board member and told him we had given up that money so he agreed to take care of the outside,” said Fortinberry. The brick was reappointed and the windows replaced.
In 2005, the Hillsborough County Commission allocated nearly $4 million for the closed building to be used as a library. Budget cuts brought those efforts to a screeching halt.
Yet the building still stands. “It’s been through every hurricane we’ve had and she’s still standing like a grandmother,” Fortinberry remarked.
Even grandmothers need a little extra love. The duo remain committed to continuing their restoration efforts. “It’s sad that it’s sat for more than 20 years with nothing done to it,’ said Grooms. “It needs a lot of work done on the inside.”