When Louise People walked into Rapoport Academy’s Grant Hall on Saturday morning, more than five decades had passed since she had lived there as a Paul Quinn College student.

Seeing her old room brought back a rush of memories — of the building’s former grandeur, of the friends she made during her years as a student, and of Mama Smith, the strict dorm mother for whom “lights-out” was never merely a suggestion.

“I was just flooded,” she said. “We had so much fun in this place. I nearly cried when I went in there.”

Former Paul Quinn College student Louise People visited her old dorm room at Grant Hall during the celebration Saturday. People attended Paul Quinn from 1953 to 1954.
Rod Aydelotte/Tribune-Herald

The dormitory is now part of Rapoport’s Elm Street campus. People was there as a guest of local community and civic leaders to celebrate the start of a project to transform the rundown building into a dining hall and creative-arts center.

U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, and Mayor Virginia DuPuy spoke about the charter school’s importance to the community.

“It’s so much more than a renovation. It’s so much more than brick and stone and mortar,” Edwards said. “The Rapoport Academy is a recognition of a true American principle: that we honor those on whose shoulders we stand.”

The renovation, expected to cost more than $1.1 million, has drawn both public and private funding.

Waco City Council approved a $250,000 federal block grant for the project.

Edwards helped funnel $166,250 from last year’s omnibus spending bill to the school. Private donors from Waco to Houston to Chicago also have kicked in funds.

The school has raised around $750,000 and is “actively involved in fundraising now,” school founder Nancy Grayson said.

Plans for the renovated hall, which has not been used for 20 years, call for a new cafeteria and dance, music, art and drama studios.

“The current setup looks a bit ad hoc,” said Chris Rios, a music teacher. The classroom where his students meet now isn’t soundproof, and he’s looking forward to the additional space.

The school is accepting subcontracting bids, general contractor Thomas Lupfer said.

“We’re going to try to get as many local folks as we can,” said Lupfer, who has worked with Rapoport on four other renovation projects.

‘Worth trying to recover’

“The buildings are quite structurally sound,” Lupfer said, pointing to the hall’s thick concrete walls. “That’s the beauty of them. That’s what makes them worth trying to recover.”

Civic and community leaders marked the beginning of the renovation stage of Rapoport Academy’s Grant Hall at a ceremony on the former Paul Quinn campus Saturday morning.
Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald

Construction crews have already removed the asbestos from the 16,500-square-foot building, whose stone veneer exterior has nearly been taken over by vines. The next step is to knock down the interior walls to carve out a space for the new floorplan.

School officials hope to complete the renovation project by Aug. 1.

“That’s the target,” Lupfer said. “We’ll do everything we can to hit it. Some of the local folks aren’t real busy right now, so we hope that will work in our favor.”

Assistant Superintendent Matthew Polk said the project has wider potential to catalyze urban redevelopment and investment throughout Waco.

“The fact that we have that broad community support really underscores the high profile of this development project, both in East Waco and in downtown Waco,” he said.

cwinchester@wacotrib.com

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