The original Billy Earl Dade Elementary School, a historic Black Dallas Independent School District property in South Dallas, is being considered as the site for a proposed $50 million career institute, according to .
Dallas ISD closed Dade in 2013 when it opened the new at Al Lipscomb Way and Malcolm X Boulevard, kitty corner from the original building. Since then the vacant campus has been in a constant state of disrepair.
鈥淭his would be something state of the art,鈥� Turner says of a new career institute. 鈥淲e need a modern-day trade school in the heart of South Dallas.鈥�
The idea emerged two years ago, when then-school board president Justin Henry formed a committee of South Dallas community members to address the future of the Dade property. Henry did this after neighbors expressed outrage when without community input. Turner led the committee with the Rev. Todd Atkins, senior pastor of , Anne Evans and Marian Williams from , and community activist and former council member , among others.
After Turner鈥檚 election to the school board, Atkins became chair of the committee. Atkins emphasizes the importance of including the community in the decision-making process. The committee has been approached by many people who wanted to buy the land for private development projects like housing, he says, but that wasn鈥檛 what the community wanted.
鈥淥ur goal was to create something that could bring generational change, a transformative space for all of South Dallas,鈥� Atkins says. The 2020 voter-approved DISD bond package included hundreds of millions of dollars to build four new . One is fully operational 鈥� the at the former Walnut Hill Elementary School 鈥� and DISD is the institute, named for Charmaigne and Robert Price, at .
A is proposed for , and Turner says the current plan is to spend $50 million to transform into Career Institute East.
However, he argues that the original Billy Dade property is a better investment. He notes that the North and South institutes are large, modern spaces with more than 150,000 square feet, offering programs in trades such as plumbing, HVAC and mechanics.
In contrast, the Lincoln High School project, which is a , would require expansion and retrofitting a career institute to the current structure. Turner and the committee are recommending that the original Dade building, which , be demolished to make way for a brand new facility.
鈥淭his would be a true investment in trade professions,鈥� Turner says.
Originally founded in 1912 as , named after a former Dallas mayor and state legislator, the school . As the neighborhood changed from a mostly Jewish to a mostly Black neighborhood, it was renamed in honor of , who lived in the home where , founder of , grew up.
While discussions are still preliminary, the committee has even suggested naming the new institute after Adelio Williams, a beloved South Dallas plumber who passed away unexpectedly a few years ago.
鈥淭o go through DISD and then go into high paying careers,鈥� Atkins says, 鈥渨hat would that look like for [students] to have those same opportunities at the highest level within their own community of South Dallas proper?鈥� The proposal is gaining momentum, with the school building鈥檚 potential demolition scheduled for discussion at this Thursday鈥檚 .
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