John and
Peggy Whited purchased the Cumberland
High/Elementary School in January 2006.
At that time the building had been
vacant for three years, vandalized and
all but forgotten. A leaking roof had
destroyed most of the buildings drop
ceilings and damaged a fair portion of
the hard wood floors. Structurally the
building was solid and therefore
salvageable.
The first
order of business was to repair the
roof. Once roof was completed, with the
help of many volunteers, the clean up
began. It took over six months to haul
away the garbage left by previous owners
and the debris from the leaky roof.
Just seven
months after John and Peggy purchased
the building, they held a huge Halloween
Party to christen the building. Still a
long way from completion, but the
building was usable. Laughter and music
could be heard echoing thru the halls
once again.
The
following year in September they held
their first wedding reception for their
son John and his bride Heather. Since
then numerous parties have and events
have taken place and the community
reaction has been extremely positive.
In May 2008
John and Peggy invited the Alumni
Association to hold their Annual Banquet
in the school building. It had been many
years since the banquet had been held in
the building and the committee members
agreed to return. The Alumni Committee
also allowed the original trophy case
and class pictures to be returned to the
building. The banquet saw a record
number in attendance and a good time was
had by all.
Their hope
is to offer the local community a place
to hold parties, meetings and even get a
little exercise. Eventually they would
like to have monthly rummage sales
and/or auctions. Also, they’d love to
start a community theatre group and they
plan to open a local history museum
within a few a years.
