By Steve Huffman
shuffman@salisburypost.com
EAST SPENCER ó Members of the congregation of Shady Grove Baptist Church have big plans for the Paul Laurence Dunbar Center.
“We want to impact not just East Spencer, but the city of Salisbury and Rowan County overall,” said the Rev. Alonza Williams, Shady Grove’s pastor. “We want to enrich the community.”
Members of Shady Grove, a church at 532 S. Long St., East Spencer, voted last fall to buy the Dunbar Center. The purchase was completed in December.
According to Rowan County’s geographical and information system, the church paid $400,000 for the property, which includes the 92,000-square-foot former school and about 7.5 acres. Included on the school property is everything from a gym and a cafeteria to a fully-stocked library.
Members of the church’s congregation began revamping the property by refurbishing the cafeteria. Williams said members hope to open a restaurant therein, perhaps as early as by the end of the year.
The refurbished cafeteria turned out well, resembling very little the type of place you’d expect to find hundreds of children lined up for a school lunch. Instead, members of Shady Grove cleaned and painted the cafeteria, then paid a professional to retile it.
Everyone involved did a nice job, the end result more closely resembling a new building than an old one.
“If you’re in East Spencer and you want to go to a restaurant, you have to go either 2 or 3 miles that way or 2 or 3 miles that way,” Williams said, pointing first south on Long Street, then north. “If you’re looking for something here in the heart of East Spencer, there’s nothing.”
That’s just the beginning of the church’s plans for the facility. Williams said members plan to rename the former school the “Paul Laurence Dunbar Business and Community Enrichment Center.”
They plan to lease former classrooms for either office or retail space. Williams said members of the congregation are hoping the complex will turn into a business mecca, drawing shoppers and office workers from across the county and beyond.
It’s a big dream, but they’re working hard to turn it into reality.
“We’re still in the working stage,” Williams said, “but, prayerfully, it’ll happen.”
Donnie Jones, East Spencer’s town administrator, has stopped in several times to observe the work taking place on the Dunbar Center. He said he’s impressed.
“From what I’ve observed, they’re doing a good job,” Jones said. “They’ve really put some time and effort into redoing the cafeteria. It’s shaping up as a nice facility.”
According to a January 2006 Post article, the Dunbar Center was purchased from the Rowan-Salisbury School System by Anderson and Bertha Pledger of Washington, D.C. The selling price was $200,000.
The former school sold following a four-month bidding process.