BOILING SPRINGS, SC - For many years the building that sits along Old Furnace Rd has served as a high school, elementary school, middle school, or community resource center in the Boiling Springs area since 1941 to numerous generations and on Saturday those same people got one last chance to say goodbye to an old friend.
As part of a sale by Spartanburg School District Two, the land the old school sits upon will soon be part of a development project as one of the old parking lots has already been turned into an entrance for construction vehicles. The building which became the first high school for the Boiling Springs community in 1941 has served many purposes throughout the years. It served as a high school from 1941-1958, an elementary school from 1958-1987, a middle school from 1988-2006, and has been the home of the Upstate Resource Center since 2007. As numerous members of the community walked through the halls there were many memories being shared between themselves and to even their children and grandchildren. A quick glance of the cars in the parking lot saw people coming from all over the United States to get one last glimpse of the building that so many have called home at one point or another. While stories were being told there was a lot of emotions being shared as well over the loss of such an iconic building in the community. Some emotions were sadness about the loss of an old friend to others who expressed anger over the loss of the building. The one thing that they were all thankful for though was the opportunity that the people of the Upstate Resource Center gave them all to walk the halls of the building one more time, which the director of the Upstate Resource Center Kelly Ezell was glad to be able to make happen. "This building is a special place because there are multiple generations that have benefited from this facility in our community," said Ezell. "I walked into this building 16 years ago all by myself and that was the start of the Upstate Resource Center. This building is special for all the multiple generations that it represents, not just for my family but for multiple families. We have probably had over 800-900 people walk through this building today and most of them came through with multiple generations and it's special to know there's someone like that has touched so many people." There were many stories being shared about relationships that began there along with families bonded over the shared experience of going to school there. One man, Bob Parris a 1969 graduate of Boiling Springs, even said that he learned about a historical moment in the country on the steps of the building that now face what is Walgreens in November of 1963. "We had been out playing football during a late recess and the Spartanburg Junior College used to have some guys that came up here to give us football lessons over in that area behind the school," said Parris. "As we were walking back in the school on those steps right over there on the east side of the building the principal met us out there and called us together. It was there that he let us know that President Kennedy had been shot and killed. It's sad to know this building won't be here anymore because it has so much history to me, in fact I want to get a picture of those steps because every time I passed by them that thought would come to my mind." Parris said he was very happy that he got the opportunity to go through the building that holds so many memories to him one last time. "I'm so glad they gave us this opportunity to go through here," said Parris. "As I go through the building it brings back so many more memories of the teachers and the classes." Ezell said that getting to hear all the people's stories about the building was special. "I've heard stories about the memories of students and teachers and the special bonds between friends that were developed here," said Ezell. "There are stories about sweethearts and so many other things that we've gotten to hear today." Ezell has operated the Upstate Resource Center for 16 years and while they will be sad to see the facility go away, they're looking forward to the future of the organization. "It's going to be sad to come by here and not see the building here anymore," said Ezell. "The resource center is not made of brick and mortar though. It's about people: the staff, the volunteers, and the community that supports us. We can do our work in just about any building and we're going to continue to do that. Yes, we're going to miss this building but we're going to continue to serve families in our community." The Upstate Resource Center is a nonprofit organization that is funded by donations from the community that serves families and works to help them thrive. "Families are the fabric of our society," said Ezell. "When our families are strong our economy, our educational system, our faith based organizations and our civic organizations are all stronger because of the family unit. We want to serve families to help them thrive." With the current building soon to be gone, the Upstate Resource Center will be moving to a temporary facility at 340 Blalock Road, where they have relocated most of their services. Their adult education programs (GED and English as a second language classes) have been relocated to Boiling Springs First Baptist Church currently. The organization has a vision for a new facility to be built on land they were given by the school district on Blalock Road. The new facility they look to build will be 10,000 square feet with community space, educational space, and a space for families. The Upstate Resource Center will be doing fundraising to help in the cost of the building of the new facility but Ezell wanted to make sure that without the generosity of the community the facility wouldn't be able to operate. "We feel like the community will help us in raising the funds for the new facility," said Ezell. "We're successful in writing grants but in order to sustain the organization the biggest asset that we have is individuals, families, and businesses in our community making donations on a monthly basis. When we know what we have coming in ahead each month it makes it so much easier to plan our budget and every little bit anyone can give helps." If you’d like to find out more about the Upstate Family Resource Center or how you can help support them visit their website https://www.upstatefrc.org. For More Pictures From This Event Please Click This Link Comments are closed.
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