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AMY SCHERZERA historic elementary school awaits $239,902 from the state for continued renovations.
HYDE PARK - Mary Britain has been waiting more than two years for the Florida Legislature to approve a $239,902 grant she helped write for historic preservation work at Gorrie Elementary School.
It looks like good news has arrived.
The grant survived budget cuts.
"We're excited. It's been a long time coming," said Britain, who is still awaiting official notification.
Britain's research for the historic Hyde Park school began with her own family tree. Two of her four children attend Gorrie, and her eldest just finished fifth grade there.
Her late grandfather, Clarence Hook, was a Gorrie student in the 1920s.
"How many kids can say they go to the same school as their great-grandfather," Britain asked.
Britain defended the grant before the Florida Historical Commission in Tallahassee in September 2002. The money was needed to pay to open windows cemented shut when air conditioning was installed in the late 1970s.
"Gorrie didn't make it into the budget in March 2003, but our priority ranking was frozen and rolled over to the next year," Britain said.
Much of the window work has been completed without waiting for the grant, Britain said, "but there's always more to be done on a school built in 1889."
"The grant was not a sure thing, so we moved forward to do what needed to be done," said Jill Edwards, who coordinated the $1.9-million renovation project for the school district. Final inspection is set for next week at 705 DeLeon St.
Another project, a $1.7-million, two-story media center with four classrooms, was completed in April 2003.
Edwards said additional windows can be replaced for aesthetic reasons but will not open, in order to provide fire protection between buildings.
Gorrie's next project, a fence around the campus and a multipurpose room, will be funded privately. A gala silent auction on April 16 has already raised $80,000.
Britain had never written a grant when she offered her services to Gorrie. A 16-year resident of Hyde Park, she was aware the state offered matching grants for preservation work. She dug into bins of news clippings, pictures and scrapbooks to compile a history of the oldest continuously operating elementary school in Florida. Janet Burt, the school district's grant writer, handled the technical aspects.
Britain's son, Travis, then a Gorrie fifth-grader, was among eight students who interviewed Gorrie alumni about the school's early days. His great-great-Aunt Annie Owen, who attended from 1913 to 1918, remembered when Gorrie's windows were always open. The students turned their interviews into a video documentary - fittingly called A Window Opens.
Meanwhile, the Legislature denied Mitchell Elementary School's request for $300,000 to open inside and outside transoms, replace some windows and raise ceilings.
The grant was resubmitted May 31 for consideration in 2005. Built in 1915, Mitchell is slated for a $1.7-million renovation next year.
Also denied: the city of Tampa's request for $725,000 to address flooding on streets near West Tampa Elementary School.
- To pass along tips to Amy Scherzer, reach her at 226-3332 or scherzer@sptimes.com