MACON, Ga. — A few weeks ago, 13WMAZ spoke to community members in east Macon as they asked the Bibb County Board of Education to save the Appling Middle School building.
Here is where they are now.
Currently, east Macon residents and the Bibb County Board of Education have reached a compromise where part of the school will stay intact and the other will be torn down for more parking for the nearby football field.
"We really appreciate that compromise on the part of Dr. Jones and the entire school board. Where we are now is that the community input is so necessary," Stanley Stewart with the East Macon committee to save Appling Middle said.
He says the committee is currently looking for the communities support in trying to find a new purpose for the middle school.
The east Macon staple is named after Peter G. Appling. He taught at several schools around the state and was principal at Macon's Hudson High School.
In 1958 -- a decade after he died -- the county named Appling High School in his honor. In 1970, when schools integrated, it became Appling B. Junior High, which later turned into Appling Middle.
Stewart says several ideas have been suggested for what the school should be. Some have included a hotel, a library, a grocery store, or an economic development and learning center.
He says it's important for the east Macon community to get engaged and come to the meetings that will decide the fate of Appling Middle School.
"There's no greater label, in my opinion, than that of citizen, and to be a citizen who is involved in their community, it's what we need more of," Stewart said.
The next meeting of the Fort Hill and East Macon Neighborhood Association will be April 12. For for information about time and location as well as other updates, check out their Facebook page.
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