$3.2M from state to be released after July 1 for Scarboro 85 Monument in Oak Ridge

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5 days ago

The Tennessee General Assembly voted in April to approve $3.2 million primarily for funding the construction of the Scarboro 85 Monument in A.K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge. The funds will be released after July 1 when the state's new fiscal year starts.
According to a news release, $2.7 million will be spent to update the completed initial design of the monument and to cover the cost of the construction. The remaining state funding of about a half of a million dollars will finance a program of national public education, tourism development and Black heritage preservation related to the historic Scarboro 85 desegregation of the first two public schools in Oak Ridge and in the Southeast, starting on Sept. 6, 1955. The two schools the 85 Scarboro students attended were Oak Ridge High School and Robertsville Junior High School.
Both the city of Oak Ridge and Anderson County have donated $125,000 each to the project, and another $200,000 has been raised through private donations. Additional donations to this effort can be made through the www.scarboro85monument.com website.
'We thank the Tennessee State Legislature for approving the recommendation of Gov. Bill Lee to fund our monument that will honor the people in Oak Ridge who helped open the modern civil rights era,' said John Spratling, an award-winning educator and chairman of the Scarboro 85 Monument Celebration Committee. 'The new monument will honor 85 brave young Black Tennessee students from Scarboro in Oak Ridge who became the very first to desegregate two all-white public schools in the Southeastern United States. This year is the 70th anniversary of that game-changing civil rights event.'
Spratling said the next step will be 'to confirm our estimate for construction costs with a local construction contractor who knows the local costs of construction materials and labor in our area. To do this, we must first receive the state funds needed to hire a construction contractor. We understand that the Tennessee State Historical Commission will be responsible for disbursing the state funds.'
He said it has not been determined whether the city of Oak Ridge or another entity 'will procure a construction company. We are actively working on this issue. We estimate that about a year and a half will be required to complete the project, once we have received the state money and obtained a construction contractor.'
Spratling emphasized that the committee hopes to expedite the process for completing the project.
'It's obviously urgent to complete the monument as soon as possible so that the surviving Scarboro 85 students can be honored in person,' he said. 'Tragically, there are only about a dozen of the 85 students left.'
The monument has been designed by a nationally known architecture firm called demian\wilbur\architects. It will feature 85 'Pillars of Courage' surrounding a central plaza of 'Healing and Hope.' The monument will also include lighted footsteps approaching it from both sides, symbolizing the Black and white communities that came together to make possible the historic desegregation.
Spratling said, "The monument architects have gone to great lengths to ensure the monument's design and content reflect the views of the 85 students, Scarboro residents, the Oak Ridge public and local community leaders.'
The monument design, which was officially unveiled in 2023, has been featured in a variety of local newspaper stories and highlighted at numerous public events.
On March 28, at the 'Lunch with Legislators' event hosted by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge, Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally of Oak Ridge responded positively to the public request for state funds for the monument project by Rose Weaver, long-time Scarboro historian and co-chair of the Scarboro 85 Monument Celebration Committee.
'This monument will be a shining tribute to these true pioneers of the civil rights movement,' McNally said. 'I am hopeful this honor will serve to further secure the rightful place of the Scarboro 85 as one of the most critical and pivotal groups in the historical struggle for civil rights.'
'We really appreciate the support from Gov. Lee, Lt. Gov. McNally, the Tennessee State Legislature and the people of Tennessee in recognizing these wonderful pioneers,' Weaver said.
Spratling added that the committee is 'still fundraising because our original goal is $4.2 million.' He noted that the completion of the monument will include contributions made by students in teacher Mark Buckner's Wildcat Manufacturing program at Oak Ridge High School.
Spratling said efforts will be made to spread the Scarboro 85 story nationwide through professional marketing and promotion in the hope of attracting tens of thousands of visitors a year to the monument, providing an additional economic boost to the Oak Ridge area.
For more information, contact Spratling, a teacher and coach at Robertsville Middle School, at [e-mail] or Weaver, currently the poet laureate of Oak Ridge, at [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on Oakridger: $3.2M from state to be released after July 1 for Scarboro 85 Monument