McClure Center is dedicated

I had the pleas­ant oppor­tu­ni­ty on Tuesday, March 24^th to attend the ded­i­ca­tion of the Hannah McClure Community Center.  Mingling with many edu­ca­tors and com­mu­ni­ty lead­ers added to the gala as every­one wel­comed the revi­tal­ized facility.

Officially dubbed the Hannah McClure Cardinal Community Center, the build­ing has been updat­ed with a fresh coat of paint and numer­ous inte­ri­or fin­ish­es, cre­at­ing a bright atmos­phere for staff, vis­i­tors, and groups.

The build­ing has a long his­to­ry in Winchester. Constructed in 1956 as an ele­men­tary school, it even­tu­al­ly mor­phed into an ear­ly child­hood devel­op­ment cen­ter before becom­ing vacant.

During a peri­od of sev­er­al years while the build­ing sat unused, dis­cus­sions ensued among many in the com­mu­ni­ty as to how best to use the build­ing, or even if it could be use­ful in some capacity.

Parks and Recreation exam­ined the build­ing for pos­si­ble use for some of its activ­i­ties, and options were exam­ined to pos­si­bly sell the building.

Eventually, it was deter­mined that sell­ing was not a rea­son­able option, and grate­ful­ly, the school board even­tu­al­ly decid­ed to keep the build­ing and make some use of it, a use that would bring the schools and com­mu­ni­ty clos­er together.

Ergo, the HMCCC (an acronym that may come into gen­er­al use as the years go by).

What has tran­spired with the ded­i­ca­tion of the build­ing to a new use is a recog­ni­tion that just because a build­ing is old, that does not mean that it has lost its usefulness. 

Hannah McClure is just the last in a long line of build­ings con­struct­ed for edu­ca­tion­al pur­pos­es that have proven their worth, includ­ing the College Park Library (ca. 1910) and Gymnasium (1925) and Campbell Junior High (1963), which was con­vert­ed from the Clark County High School.  Even Holly Rood (ca. 1816) once served an edu­ca­tion­al func­tion when it was uti­lized as the Home Economics Department of Winchester High School in the 1950s and is now a local venue for groups and events and a draw to tourists.

Unfortunately, the old Winchester High School (ca. 1929), which holds many great mem­o­ries for this writer, fell to the demo­li­tion ball but was replaced with anoth­er edu­ca­tion­al facil­i­ty in the form of the present Clark County Public Library.

Hannah McClure was an edu­ca­tor in the Winchester Schools sys­tem, which was sep­a­rate from the Clark County Schools until con­sol­i­da­tion in about 1963 when the new high school was constructed.

I’m sure my friend Harry Enoch could eas­i­ly enlight­en the read­er with a more thor­ough explo­ration of Ms. McClure’s life and reputation.

If mem­o­ry serves cor­rect­ly, she was prin­ci­pal of Hickman Street Elementary School, and per­haps else­where before the end of her career.

Winchester should be grate­ful to Superintendent Dustin Howard and the school board — Dora Hall, Carl Kiser, Paula Thomas, Ben Dorsey and Ashley Ritchie, for the vision and fore­sight that have pro­vid­ed a facil­i­ty which will con­tin­ue to serve the com­mu­ni­ty for many years to come.