Old Herod High being torn down

An old era is coming to an end to make room for a new era to begin.
On Monday, Vermilion Shell and Limestone Company began tearing down the old Herod High School to make room for the new Williams Scholar Academy built on the same grounds.
The project is scheduled to take at least three weeks. When Vermilion Shell is 100 percent complete, there will be only dirt on the location. The cement driveway and foundation will also be removed.
The debris is being hauled to a landfill in Coteau.
Over the last two days, traffic has been above average because of onlookers. Many attended the school when it was Herod High School and then it became a fifth and sixth-grade school in the 1970s and 1980s.
Alvin Minnick was one of those people who drove by the demolition. He turned into the parking lot to get a closer view.
Minnick attended Herod High until the sixth grade, and then he was transferred to J.H. Williams Middle School because of the segregation of schools in Vermilion Parish in the late 1960s.
He sat in the car and watched as the contractor knocked down parts of the old grade school wing, where he attended.
Minnick, who graduated from Meaux High School in 1975, did not have a problem with the old school being torn down. He said it was time.
“I never thought I would see this (tearing down), but the school is so old, it was time for a change,” said Minnick.
“I think it is time for it to go, because it has been an eyesore for so long. No one wanted to invest money into the school. Then came Pastor Walter August, who bought the school, and he wants to do something positive for the area. That is a great thing for Abbeville.”
Timothy Moore is the site manager for the tearing down of the old school. He got wind that people posted on the internet about being sad that the old school will be gone in a few days.
“The memories will be gone.”
That did not sit too well with Moore, who helped start a youth boxing club in Abbeville a few years ago.
“I knew there were upset people before the tearing down of Herod,” said Moore on Tuesday. “Certain neighbors and those who came to this school wanted to know why we were tearing it down. This is a new vision that God wants.”
Once the four acres are cleared and the property inspected, construction will start on a new school called Williams Scholar Academy.
Also being built on the property is a new James A Herod cultural center and museum. The museum will list the teachers who taught at the school and memorabilia of the old Herod High and the gym. Parts of the bleachers will be rebuilt in the museum.
Moore said Pastor August, Tiffany Williams-Spraggins and Dr. Twyla Williams-Damond are willing to work to make the grounds a better place.
He said now it is the community’s turn to help clean up the area. He expects some negative feedback from parts of the community about the tearing down of Herod High. He also knows more people are positive that something is being done to the property.
“This is the vision that God has. The people who are positive and get behind the project are all that matters. Positivity has to come to Abbeville,” said Moore.