The contract for the new building of the Orange County Training school, Chapel Hill’s negro institution, has been let to F.M. Willliams of Durham, and October 1st is set as the time for completion. Of the total cost of $17,550, the county board of education appropriated $15,000 and the remainder was given by the General Education Board.
On a hill out at the end of Church street, about half a mile north of the old Baptist church, the site is particularly well suited to the purposes of a school. There are six and a half acres of land, so that there will be ample room not only for a playground and practice work in gardening, but for future expansion of the building.
The plans show a one-story structure of brick and tile, with nine classrooms and a central auditorium. If there are rooms added later, they will be on the ground, not in the form of a second story. Thus the danger of fire will be minimized.
M.C.S. Noble, Dr. Charles S. Mangum, and J.S. Holmes compose the committee that has put the school scheme through. While they have gone ahead with the work of getting the appropriations and having plans made, the leading negro citizens of Chapel Hill have been active in raising money for equipment and other school necessities.
“The committee has decided to name the auditorium for Henry Strowd,” said Mr. Noble yesterday. “This is in recognition of the keen interest and helpfulness of this respected colored citizen. When we decided on a new building, after the old one burned, we had great difficulty in getting a site. Henry Strowd came to our aid by agreeing to sell is six and a half acres of his property at a reasonable price.”
The present attendance of the school, which has both elementary and high school grades, is around 350. The new building will accommodate 400 pupils. The high school department will receive boys and girls from all over Orange county.
From page 1 of the Chapel Hill Weekly, July 3, 1924
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