WILLIAMSBURG — For more than 100 years the Helen E. James School building has stood watch over downtown. That era came to an end this week, when the venerable structure was demolished in preparation for the construction of a new public safety facility.
The school, named after a 19th-century philanthropist, was constructed in 1914. It was a public high school until 1971 and a public elementary school until 2014.
In 2021 the town voted to demolish the school and construct a new public safety complex on its grounds, after determining that it would be millions of dollars more expensive to preserve the building.
Town Administrator Nick Caccamo said demolition began on Tuesday. By Wednesday, all that remained were piles of rubble.
Amanda Emerson and her partner, Rick Lipschutz, were sitting outside the Williamsburg General Store on Wednesday. And while they said they weren’t opposed to the town’s decision, they did express sadness at the school’s passing, with both noting the beauty of the former building.
“We need beauty,” Lipschutz said. “Beauty is a necessity for human beings.”
Emerson, meanwhile, attended high school at Helen E. James until it ceased to operate as one.
“You don’t realize the value of your old school. You don’t realize what it meant to you until you see it come down,” she said.
Another mourner in town on Wednesday was Mia Howell, 18, who attended elementary school at Helen E. James from kindergarten to fourth grade.
“It’s just overall quite sad,” Howell said. “It’s a really big historic piece of this town.”
Caccamo said that September of 2023 remains the estimated finish time for the public safety complex, which will house the town’s police and fire departments.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.