‘You have to make that person stop’:
Refocusing Waldo after community school closed
Eight classrooms. Each set up for what were supposed to be rooms in a small, local school.
Doors that once welcomed children inside its halls every day are under lock and key in Waldo.
Kim Worley, Waldo City Manager, walked through the halls while her steps echoed off the floor. The rooms were dark and empty with desks still positioned as if they were ready for a full class of kids.
The school that used to welcome children and teachers sits mostly empty now. Four years after the Waldo Community School closed, the small town is repurposing the building with hopes of keeping families in Waldo.
The Waldo Community School closed in 2015 after a vote by the Alachua County School Board. The building, which has been renamed the Waldo City Square, will be used as a new center for meetings, activities and community events.
Some of the nearly 280 students who attended the school now ride an hour-long bus to Shell Elementary School or attend nearby schools in Gainesville, Worley said. Shell Elementary in Hawthorne is 15 miles away.
Few other schools are nearby, Worley said. It takes at least an hour on a bus for students to make it to Hawthorne every day for school.
It may not be possible for students in lower-income families to attend schools in Gainesville. Worley said if a parent is poor, has only one car or no car at all, students will be stuck riding the bus to and from school.
“We tried to fight it, but the school board was just like, ‘It’s a money decision and we are done,’” Worley said. “If they all miss the bus, what are you going to do?”
Worley emphasized that the school was the community school and that if a public school closes in a city like Gainesville, there are handfuls of schools for children within miles.
People in Waldo are still figuring out how to keep their small town afloat, Worley said. She is tackling the question of what unique feature may attract people to Waldo.
The small mom-and-pop businesses have suffered in Waldo. Her generation relied on these businesses, and the task for the next generation of Waldo residents is to discover what people would stop their cars for, Worley said.
“The school, taking that hit -- that was really hard because that kind of limits your families and stuff like that,” Worley said.
Old houses are left abandoned and dilapidated after people move or die and pass the home on to their family, Worley said. Southern style two-story homes, small brick shops and white churches can be found abandoned with dirt-caked shutters awry and broken glass.
“We just don’t have housing,” Worley said. “This is mayor’s thing this year. We have got to clean up the town. We have to got to start putting code enforcement into effect. But you just don’t have new homes here for people to buy.”
People don’t feel like they can safely walk across the street to the downtown area, Worley said. This is another reason, she said, Waldo has a difficult time attracting permanent businesses and real estate to the area.
She jokes with her daughters that walking across the streets there is like playing a game of Frogger. They are just trying to cross the street without getting ran over as it is not uncommon to see people drive through on Florida State Road 24 at 50 and 60 miles per hour, she said.
“It didn’t matter what kind of business you had there, no matter how great it was,” Worley said. “They’re going by too fast for anybody to stop and you don’t have the parking or walkability.”
After a 50-year-old Waldo woman was hit and killed by a semi-truck on U.S. Route 301 while riding a bicycle in December, concerns about traffic speeds were voiced.
Doors that once welcomed children inside its halls every day are under lock and key in Waldo.
Kim Worley, Waldo City Manager, walked through the halls while her steps echoed off the floor. The rooms were dark and empty with desks still positioned as if they were ready for a full class of kids.
The school that used to welcome children and teachers sits mostly empty now. Four years after the Waldo Community School closed, the small town is repurposing the building with hopes of keeping families in Waldo.
The Waldo Community School closed in 2015 after a vote by the Alachua County School Board. The building, which has been renamed the Waldo City Square, will be used as a new center for meetings, activities and community events.
Some of the nearly 280 students who attended the school now ride an hour-long bus to Shell Elementary School or attend nearby schools in Gainesville, Worley said. Shell Elementary in Hawthorne is 15 miles away.
Few other schools are nearby, Worley said. It takes at least an hour on a bus for students to make it to Hawthorne every day for school.
It may not be possible for students in lower-income families to attend schools in Gainesville. Worley said if a parent is poor, has only one car or no car at all, students will be stuck riding the bus to and from school.
“We tried to fight it, but the school board was just like, ‘It’s a money decision and we are done,’” Worley said. “If they all miss the bus, what are you going to do?”
Worley emphasized that the school was the community school and that if a public school closes in a city like Gainesville, there are handfuls of schools for children within miles.
People in Waldo are still figuring out how to keep their small town afloat, Worley said. She is tackling the question of what unique feature may attract people to Waldo.
The small mom-and-pop businesses have suffered in Waldo. Her generation relied on these businesses, and the task for the next generation of Waldo residents is to discover what people would stop their cars for, Worley said.
“The school, taking that hit -- that was really hard because that kind of limits your families and stuff like that,” Worley said.
Old houses are left abandoned and dilapidated after people move or die and pass the home on to their family, Worley said. Southern style two-story homes, small brick shops and white churches can be found abandoned with dirt-caked shutters awry and broken glass.
“We just don’t have housing,” Worley said. “This is mayor’s thing this year. We have got to clean up the town. We have to got to start putting code enforcement into effect. But you just don’t have new homes here for people to buy.”
People don’t feel like they can safely walk across the street to the downtown area, Worley said. This is another reason, she said, Waldo has a difficult time attracting permanent businesses and real estate to the area.
She jokes with her daughters that walking across the streets there is like playing a game of Frogger. They are just trying to cross the street without getting ran over as it is not uncommon to see people drive through on Florida State Road 24 at 50 and 60 miles per hour, she said.
“It didn’t matter what kind of business you had there, no matter how great it was,” Worley said. “They’re going by too fast for anybody to stop and you don’t have the parking or walkability.”
After a 50-year-old Waldo woman was hit and killed by a semi-truck on U.S. Route 301 while riding a bicycle in December, concerns about traffic speeds were voiced.
A 10-year Waldo resident Nell Johnson said she didn’t know Sharon Wilson well but knew her from attending First Baptist Church. The city council and town officials have attempted ineffectively to get the Florida Department of Transportation to slow the passing traffic, Johnson said.
“They are just not interested in the issues that Waldo is having,” Johnson said.
Johnson said Wilson and her husband moved to Florida from Illinois around the same time she did.
It was the Babb House that attracted to Johnson.
She and her husband drove by the house they now own while they were attending garage sales one morning. Once she saw the porch and quaint A-frame house, known to locals as the Babb House, it reminded her of the home they had made together in northern Illinois at the start of their lives together.
When the couple initially came to town, they visited several vacant buildings with the hopes of bringing their crafts, antiques and collectibles store she ran for 15 years, The Gift Box, with them. But that’s when she realized how expensive the downtown buildings were, even with little to no parking.
To Johnson, Waldo is a small town with a lot of potential. She said people have the wrong impression about the town she calls home.
“Most of downtown is owned by one or two people who, when they do get a tenant, they raise their rent and they chase their tenant out,” Johnson said. “You have to make that person stop.”
Using the Waldo City Square as a focal point may attract businesses to the area. Downtown should be redirected off of State Road 24 and begin at the old school building to avoid traffic and parking complications, she said.
“You have three to 10 seconds to make people want to stop, make people turn their head,” Johnson said. “And unfortunately, our little town at this point doesn’t do it. But I think it can at some point.”
Worley said people who drive through Waldo may not have the best picture of their small town, citing the corruption in the former police department that has since been disbanded. Losing the school and the police department were two losses to the town, she said.
“We don’t ever get good coverage, and it’s a shame because it is a neat town,” Worley said.”
Johnson voiced similar thoughts and said the police department’s reputation damaged Waldo.
“It did keep a certain amount of order, but we’re not an unorderly group out here,” Johnson said. “There’s a few bad seeds, but you’ll find that anywhere.”
“They are just not interested in the issues that Waldo is having,” Johnson said.
Johnson said Wilson and her husband moved to Florida from Illinois around the same time she did.
It was the Babb House that attracted to Johnson.
She and her husband drove by the house they now own while they were attending garage sales one morning. Once she saw the porch and quaint A-frame house, known to locals as the Babb House, it reminded her of the home they had made together in northern Illinois at the start of their lives together.
When the couple initially came to town, they visited several vacant buildings with the hopes of bringing their crafts, antiques and collectibles store she ran for 15 years, The Gift Box, with them. But that’s when she realized how expensive the downtown buildings were, even with little to no parking.
To Johnson, Waldo is a small town with a lot of potential. She said people have the wrong impression about the town she calls home.
“Most of downtown is owned by one or two people who, when they do get a tenant, they raise their rent and they chase their tenant out,” Johnson said. “You have to make that person stop.”
Using the Waldo City Square as a focal point may attract businesses to the area. Downtown should be redirected off of State Road 24 and begin at the old school building to avoid traffic and parking complications, she said.
“You have three to 10 seconds to make people want to stop, make people turn their head,” Johnson said. “And unfortunately, our little town at this point doesn’t do it. But I think it can at some point.”
Worley said people who drive through Waldo may not have the best picture of their small town, citing the corruption in the former police department that has since been disbanded. Losing the school and the police department were two losses to the town, she said.
“We don’t ever get good coverage, and it’s a shame because it is a neat town,” Worley said.”
Johnson voiced similar thoughts and said the police department’s reputation damaged Waldo.
“It did keep a certain amount of order, but we’re not an unorderly group out here,” Johnson said. “There’s a few bad seeds, but you’ll find that anywhere.”
Story by Angie DiMichele
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