Parkland School

Parkland School is a formerly abandoned school in the Parkland neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky. It was renovated to house Family Scholar House, a non-profit organization that provides housing and support services for single-parent college students and their families.







History

Parkland School was constructed in 1891 at the corner of Catalpa (28th Street) and Dumesnil streets in the city of Parkland. 1 7 The community was unable to fully recover after a tornado six city-blocks-wide caused extensive destruction to the town in 1894, and it was annexed into neighboring Louisville. 7

Bids for the construction of four additional classrooms and the conversion of the basement into science and manual training classrooms were opened on August 15, 1911. 3 Students began using the new addition in the summer of 1912 although work was not wrapped up until late December. 5 By mid-1913, the new addition had become overcrowded because the city was annexing county lands and thus sending more students to city schools. 6 Kindergarten children were housed in a rented cottage across the street with two other classes being held in a former bakery. A portable building was brought in to serve as an additional classroom.

Plans for a $960,000 enlargement and renovation project of Parkland School were approved by the Board of Education on October 2, 1967. 2 It entailed the renovation of the original c. 1891 and c. 1912 buildings and the construction of a three-story building designed by Arrasmith, Judd, Rapp & Associates Architects that included a unique wallless library encircled by classrooms. The renovation and addition, with space for 800 students across 22 classrooms, was opened in September 1968.

In 1985, Parkland was renamed after Milburn Taylor Maupin, the first African-American central office administrator for the city public school system. 7 Maupin served as an interim superintendent from January to June 1975 and retired as deputy superintendent in 1978.

Construction of a new elementary school to replace the aging Maupin School began in 1997, 1 which opened in August 1998 at the cost of $9.6 million. 4 It included space for 540 students, two computer labs, an auditorium, and a gymnasium.

Renovation

The shuttered Parkland School was mired in controversy after the new Maupin School opened. From 1998 through 2005, Shiloh Baptist Church and its pastor, Henry Humphrey, directed an effort to remodel the school into affordable senior citizen apartments. 11 Shiloh received $1.2 million in federal grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Services (HUD) between 2001 and 2005 and $300,000 from the city for a new roof and elevator in the school. The lead architect, Nolan and Nolan, quit the project in 2004 over non-payment amid disputes with Humphrey and other project leaders.

Red flags were soon raised over falsified financial reports, eventually leading to Humphrey and his grant writer being charged with 11 federal counts, including defrauding HUD of $831,000. 10 Humphrey was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty.

The school remained abandoned until Family Scholar House, a non-profit organization that provides housing and support services for single-parent college students and their families, broke ground on renovations to Parkland on September 27, 2012. 8 The ceremonial event kicked off construction of the $12.2 million Parkland Scholar House project, 9 designed by the Marian Development Group, which included the renovation of the circa 1891 and circa 1911 buildings, the demolition of the circa 1968 building, and the construction of a new structure to house 48 two- and three-bedroom apartments. 8 It included a computer lab, meeting rooms, a community kitchen and dining room, a library, and a fitness room. The project was financed with low-income tax credits from the Kentucky Housing Corporation, federal tax credits for historic preservation, a $1.2 million grant from the James Graham Brown Foundation, and conventional financing.

A grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Parkland Scholar House was held on August 7, 2013, and residents began moving in on August 10. 9



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Sources

  1. “Elementary Schools – Centennial.” The encyclopedia of Louisville. Ed. John E. Kleber. Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky, 2001. 270. Print.
  2. “Board Approves Plans for Old Parkland School.” Courier-Journal [Louisville] 3 Oct. 1967: B1. Print.
  3. “Bids Opened for Work on Parkland School.” Courier-Journal [Louisville] 15 Aug. 1911: 5. Print.
  4. Carter, Darla. “New Maupin Elementary wins high praise from all.” Courier-Journal [Louisville] 12 Aug. 1998: 2. Print.
  5. “Rush Work During Holiday Vacation.” Courier-Journal [Louisville] 25 Dec. 1912: 12. Print.
  6. “More Additions Needed.” Courier-Journal [Louisville] 13 Sept. 1913: 7. Print.
  7. “Parkland area, Maupin school have grown old together.” Courier-Journal [Louisville] 28 Nov. 1991: E2. Print.
  8. Karman III, John R. “Family Scholar House begins work on its fourth facility.” Louisville Business First 27 Sept. 2012: n.p. Web.
  9. Karman III, John R. “Family Scholar House to open fourth facility.” Louisville Business First 29 Jul. 2013: n.p. Web.
  10. Klepal, Dan. “Pastor gets two years in fraud case.” Courier-Journal [Louisville] 19 Jan. 2011: B1-B3. Print.
  11. Klepal, Dan. “Shiloh Baptist pastor admits fraud.” Courier-Journal [Louisville] 23 Jun. 2010: B1-B5. Print.

9 Comments

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I went to school in the old building in 4th and 5th grade in 84,85 & 86. I tried to find Parkland on Google Earth and although I was pretty sure I knew where it was at I couldn’t find it. I remembered that old church across the street from it and when I found that church there was Maupin but it looked totally different than I remembered. I was beginning to wonder if time had really screwed my memory up. But then I found this page and yep, these are the pics.

I had two teachers who’s names I can remember. Mrs Burhands and Mrs Estes. I remember Mrs Burhands because we watched the Challenger space shuttle launch and explosion in her class live as it happened. I remember students commenting that it blew up and Mrs Burhands saying “No it didn’t”. Of course she was just trying to shield a bunch of 4th graders from the tragedy. Mrs Estes, I remember her because she had the best penmanship I have ever seen. Which was something I was never good at no matter how much she tried to help.

I went to Parkland Elementary from 1st grade in 1952 through 6th grade 1958. We all walked to school. Miss Bistalk, Miss Caldwell, Miss Mohler, Miss Kerbal, Miss Cramer.

I am not an alumn of this school but, as I was researching high school football in Jefferson Co., I found that Parkland had good football teams that went toe-to-toe with Manual, Male, St. Xavier & others!

I hated this school. I could have walked to school based on where I lived at the time, but NOOOOOOOO, I was forced to go to Parkland in the late ’70s for 4th grade because of the desegregation laws… from K through college, this was the worse fucking year of my entire school career. But, on a more positive note, I am glad to know the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and restoration was recently completed.

I have fond memories of Parkland Jr High, I went there around 1966 or 67 – So sad to see it looking like this…

Come By August 7 For The Reopening And See What A Wonderful Job They Have Done Restoring It After Spending 10.1 million Dollars It’s Awesome

This was my old school many years ago! The road to being educated started here for me and many others. Its so sad to see it looking like this. I am thankful for the warm memories of Parkland and the wonderful teachers who made it their main goal to make sure inner city kids got the education they deserved. We're better off today due to the efforts of those individuals! Parkland Eagles for life!!!

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