Community Activists Demand Preservation Of Structure Once Housing 'Montopolis Negro School'

SOUTH AUSTIN, TX — Community activists on Friday gathered outside a structure for which a demolition permit has been filed that once housed the Montopolis Negro School, insisting the building that serves as a tangible vestige illustrating the city's segregated past should be preserved.

Members of the Montopolis Neighborhood Association and Montopolis Neighborhood Plan Contact team are fearful the property owner plans to demolish the building they feel is an important piece of African American history, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

The property owner, Austin Stowell of KEEP Investment Group/Real Estate, told the newspaper he doesn't plan to raze the structure at 500 Montopolis Dr., despite the fact he obtained a demolition permit after buying the building last year..

“As I have stated on record, I do not have any intention to demolish the structure,” Stowell told the newspaper. “I have already met with Council Member (Pio) Renteria’s office and look forward to working with other council members to find a creative solution to save and restore the structure. I am open to a number of different scenarios that I believe will provide a mutually beneficial solution.”

He declined to provide further details on his plans. A city official told the Statesman Stowell submitted a request for a permit in July, but it's still under review. According to documents filed with the city, the property owner originally intended to demolish the site to make room for 15 single-family units, the newspaper reported.

Stowell acknowledged that while those may have been his original plans, he is now re-thinking them after learning of the cultural significance of the property. The vacant building once housed a school for African American children from 1935 to 1962, one of more than 40 such structures throughout Travis County so designated.

As reported by KXAN-TV, the school was founded around 1891 on Bastrop Highway. A storm destroyed the school by 1935, leading to its relocation next to St. Edward's Baptist Church on Montopolis Drive the same year.

Local scholar Fred L. McGhee, author of Austin's Montopolis Neighborhood, noted the importance of preserving buildings of such a historical nature: "The history of segregated education in America, in Austin, matters a great deal, and trying to erase it from the landscape isn't going to make the history of institutional racism go away," he told KXAN.

Community activist Susana Almanza is among those leading the charge to save the building, and has posted updates on the fight on her Facebook page.

In an open letter to Mayor Steve Adler, McGhee expounded on the significance of the structure to local history: "The school building and its surrounding landscape, along with the historic Burditt Prairie Cemetery, are the two most important African-American historic sites in the Montopolis neighborhood," he wrote.

"To be clear, we believe that the property is a cultural landscape–it was used for Juneteenth celebrations by the Burditt’s Prairie Freedmen’s community as well as for other community purposes," McGhee continued in his letter to Adler. "Simply focusing, therefore, on the preservation of the school building in order to accommodate the real estate development desires of the current owner would be short-sighted and a mistake."

In his letter, McGhee provided the mayor with a link to a presentation he made before the Historic Landmark Commission on Nov. 28. You can view that presentation here: mcghee-montopolis-presentation.

The fight to save the building comes amid a brisk pace of gentrification that has overtaken the southeast and east portions of the city in particular, changing the landscape of established neighborhoods. The uptick in commercial development also has led a forced exodus of longtime residents either unable to afford construction-fueled property tax increases in the wake of commercialization or evicted from their homes to make way for luxury housing for an influx of higher-income residents.

Last December, a case study illustrating the corrosive effects of gentrification of established enclaves was seen in East Austin. Oracle Corp., the world's second-largest software firm, purchased property in order to build offices for its employees along with luxury housing — in the process evicting hundreds of low-income families from their apartments.

Despite repeated requests for comment from Patch — including questions related to whether they would assist the apartment dwellers they effectively pushed out to defray moving costs — company officials never did reply to messages left on voicemail and email.

>>> Image of Montopolis Negro School via Fred L. McGhee website as presented to City Council