(The Dallas Examiner) – South Dallas community members bid farewell to the old Billy Earl Dade Middle School building during a ceremony hosted by the Dallas Independent School District May 21. Located in the Fair Park neighborhood at 2722 S. Malcolm X Blvd., the building has been unoccupied since 2013 when the middle school was relocated to a new, more modernized campus nearby.
The school district has developed plans to demolish the original building and reconstruct a new $50 million state-of-the-art career and technical learning facility on the same site.
At the start of the ceremony, which was held in the parking lot of the original school location, Dallas ISD District 9 Trustee Ed Turner welcomed community members and leaders and offered an overview of the past, present and future of the old Billy E. Dade site.
“Today, we stand on sacred ground. A place with a complicated past, a powerful presence and a promising future,” Turner said.
Initially named after John Henry Brown, a former Dallas mayor and Confederate States of America allegiant, the school was later renamed after Billy Earl Dade, a legendary educator who served as principal at multiple Dallas ISD schools.
Over the last decade since being left vacant, the building has become an eyesore in the community.
The reconstructed facility will become the Adelio Williams Career Institute East, which is currently located at Lincoln High School and Humanities/Communications Magnet. Originally named Lincoln High School Career Institute, the learning facility was renamed earlier this year to honor Adelio Williams – a master plumber, community advocate and South Dallas native who died in 2021.
“We are not just turning soil. We are turning a page on a new chapter in the story of Sunny South Dallas,” Turner said.
The new building will be an expansion of the revitalization that is taking place all over South Dallas. Several real estate investors expressed interest in developing the property in ways that were contrary to the ideas of those vested in the future of South Dallas.
“We are here as a community that fought against this plot of four acres becoming a massive condo development that our community could not afford to live in. We’re here because we were focused that this plot of ground remains to the benefit of our students in South Dallas,” said Rev. Dr. Todd Atkins, senior pastor of Salem Institutional Baptist Church.
“I’m so excited about what is happening today. I can tell you as a community leader that we experience so much frustration. So many times you make one step forward and ten steps backwards. But I’m here today to celebrate what all of us have brought today.”
Having an institution of higher learning in the South Dallas community opens doors of opportunity for many students who may have thought it was not possible to pursue a rewarding career. Certifications such as plumbing, heating ventilation and air conditioning, and patient care are currently offered at Lincoln and will be expanded once the new career institute opens.
“We have a responsibility,” the Honorable Diane Ragsdale said. “If we are to improve our living conditions, if we are to ensure that we all enjoy a decent standard of living, it is our responsibility to create institutions that will serve our community.”
At the conclusion of the ceremony, community leaders including the Honorable Ron Price, Ragsdale, Turner and Atkins, pointed sledgehammers toward the north exterior wall of the building. It was a symbolic gesture honoring the steps being taken toward a brighter future for education in South Dallas.
“We are not renovating the past,” Turner concluded. “We are building the future.”