Sibley

If you would like to share a memory of growing up and going to school at Sibley e-mail or write to us.

Your pictures and data will all be returned to you in a prompt manner. Be sure to include a return address.

MindenMemories@aol.com or write Sherry Gritzbaugh, 4507 Verone St., Bellaire, TX77401. Thanks.

The Sibley students now go to school at Lakeside High School in Sibley , Louisiana.

If anyone else can name any of the other teachers...or princiapls, email us and tell us who they are.

Mrs. Lucille Alfred Day was one of the elementary school teachers at Sibley. She taught 5th and 6th grade.

Sibley accepts bid for demolition

Michelle Bates
Press-Herald Staff 8-11-2005

The Town of Sibley has accepted a bid for the demolition of the old building at the former Sibley High School.

H&W Demolition Co., Inc. submitted a total bid of $39,600 to demolish the old building as well as the cafeteria. The company will provide all the materials necessary to do the demolition and bury the brick and concrete on site and carry all other construction materials to a designated landfill.

The council unanimously voted to accept the bid with the stipulation that H&W Demolition dig the hole to bury the material and cover it up once demolition is complete.

“We just don’t have the equipment to do something like that,” Mayor Larry Merritt said.

In other news, Councilman Clint Heflin introduced a proposed ordinance to put a leash law on the books for the town. He said after receiving complaints of dogs running loose, something needed to be done.

The mayor agreed.

“There definitely needs to be something done about dogs running loose,” he said, “but it’s a catch 22.”

The ordinance, if voted on at September’s meeting, would make it illegal for dog owners to allow their pets to run free within the town limits.

“An animal at large shall be defined as ‘any animal that is not confined within a fenced enclosure or shelter, or under the control of a person, either by lead, cord, rope or chain,’” the proposed ordinance said.

A fine is also stipulated that violators would be fined no more than $250.

Heflin said that although it would be hard to enforce it, the ordinance would give the chief of police a leg to stand on should there be any complaints.

“It wasn’t hard to find that almost every town our size has some kind of leash law,” Heflin explained. “This also gives the chief a direct way to respond to this type of complaint. It gives the chief a way to enforce something like this.”

A public hearing has been set for September 13, to be held during the council’s regular monthly meeting.

Heflin also introduced another ordinance setting a curfew for juveniles. Kids running the streets seems to have prompted the proposal, which would set a restriction on outdoor activities between the hours of 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. each day, “except on Friday and Saturday, on which days the curfew shall be in force from midnight.”

There would be exceptions such as when a juvenile is accompanied by a parent, tutor, custodian or other adult persons having custody or control of the juvenile. There are other exceptions as well, but the idea is to make sure kids aren’t getting into trouble.

Sibley Police Chief Frank Chanler said he had a complaint about kids running the streets late at night, but this ordinance would give him a way to keep them off the streets.

“It won’t be the kids coming in from a ball game,” he said. “It would be the kids walking the streets and walking through yards at 1 or 2 o’clock in the morning. Those coming home from a ball game or something won’t even be considered breaking curfew. I just need something to get these kids off the streets.”

Another One Bites The Dust

Five years after closing to students, Sibley High is coming down

Press-Herald photo/Michelle Bates
Workers with Chandler Building Materials prepare to load lumber removed from the roof of the old Sibley High School building.

Press-Herald photo/Michelle Bates
A worker on the old Sibley High site hands roof trusses down to co-workers to be salvaged from the building.

Michelle Bates
Press-Herald Staff

SIBLEY — The long-awaited demolition of the old building at the former Sibley High School has finally begun.

This week, contractors worked to remove the roof of the building that was built in 1924, but the building is not exactly being demolished. Contractors are carefully taking the building apart, because much of the material is still useable.

Tom Chandler, of Chandler Building Materials (H&W Demolition Co., Inc.), said the trusses in the roof are salvageable.

“We’re going to recycle what we can,” Chandler said. “All this lumber has been sold, and you don’t find lumber this long anymore.”

The lumber, which is at least 26 feet long, has been sold, and once it’s all loaded, will head to its new owner.

Chandler said the project should take at least three weeks to a month to complete.

Also, about half of the brick, if possible, will be saved for those former students who wish to own a little piece of their alma mater. Regina Booth, Sibley town employee, said people have already stopped to inquire about getting a load of the brick. If the bricks are salvageable, she said, people will only be allowed to take one or two for sentimental value.

She also said she hated to see the old building come down because of its architecture.

“Although I didn’t go to school here, I hate to see it go,” she said, “just because I love old buildings. You just don’t find the craftsmanship like that anymore.”

Like many other Sibley residents, she understands the building hasn’t been safe for people to use in a long time. Also, Helen Chanler, who was the cafeteria manager for 28 years at the old school, said she hated to see it come down, but it has to be done.

“It needs to come down, but I do have mixed emotions about the cafeteria,” she said. “It’s just hit me the other day, but I know it needs to come down. It’s not doing anybody any good. I just don’t know how to explain it — it’s just different. We’ve fed a lot of kids that went through in 28 years. It’s going to be sad to see it come down, but as I said, we need to get on and do what we need to do with it.”

Once the old two-story building is completely taken apart, the school cafeteria will also be taken down.

The original Sibley High School was built in 1923, housing grades K-12. When it burned some months later, the school was rebuilt in 1924, and remained a school for all grades until 1974, when the school board changed the southern district’s system.

Not only were the schools desegregated, many of the grades were realigned. Heflin and Dubberly schools became elementary schools, housing grades kindergarten through five; Central High School became a junior high, housing grades six through eight; while Sibley became the high school, housing grades nine through 12.

Then, in 1998, bond issues were passed in the south district to build a new junior/senior high school — Lakeside. The new school now houses grades seven and eight on the junior high side, and grades nine through 12 on the senior high side.

At the former Central Junior High School, the Webster Parish School Board turned it into the elementary school for the entire south district, housing Pre-K through sixth grades.