Edgewood Community Center Awarded National Park Service Historic Preservation Fund's African American Civil Rights Grant

National Park Service (NPS) award the EDGEWOOD COMMUNITY CENTER in Ninety Six , South Carolina 750,000. The grant funds preservation projects tied to the struggle of the African Americans to gain equal rights. As an "equalization school" the former Edgewood School was built in 1956 to make the Black and White schools "separate but equal" to forestall integration. The school became the heart and soul of the Black community. Though all American schools were ordered to desegregate in 1954, the Greenwood School District 52 finally integrated for the 1970-71 school year when faced with the impending loss of federal funding. 

In 2016 South Carolina Rural Education Grassroots Group (SCREGG) Reopened the vacant building as the Edgewood Community Center with the goal to revitalize the community through educational and recreational opportunities. The grant will provide the necessary funds to restore the portion of the building used as a community center to its former glory and make it safe and comfortable place for the community. The grant will fund the first phase of restoration: A new roof and a HVAC system and new floor for the gymnasium addition to the design and engineering for the second phase. SCREGG is seeking a partnership to repurpose /rehabilitate the remaining portion of the building, the academic wing. 

The community center is grateful for the opportunity to restore the building. it is a chance to preserve a piece of the history and to make it a place where people can come together. The grant will help this dream become a reality. 

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For more information about the restoration project or the community center please contact the Director James Hemphill at scregg96@gmail.com or 864-336-3780 or the Edgewood Community Center website www.edgewoodcc.org Information about the National Park Service Historic Preservation Fund's African American Civil Rights grant is www.nps.gov/subjects/historicpreservationfund/african-american-civil-rights.htm