Feb. 9—The Stillwater City Council voted unanimously this week to approve a resolution establishing the Washington School Advisory Committee that will help in the planned restoration and redevelopment of the Booker T. Washington School, also known as “Washington School” — the once all-Black school, on West 12th Avenue in Stillwater, which was desegregated after the last class graduated in 1956.

The City acquired the closed and defunct Washington School in 2022 with funds that were donated to the municipality.

Since then, the Washington School Alumni Association, along with other groups and citizens, have been working very hard at unofficial preliminary clean-up and further fundraising efforts towards a community vision: refurbishing of the Washington School and grounds.

With the five-member committee approved, the goals of this group are to “officially” help those already involved and bring back-to-life the original structures and surrounding land.

The final outcome will be a Washington School that becomes a vibrant teaching and learning community center of cultural and historical significance, which can share space and information in new areas of education, history, sports and special events in the City of Stillwater.

The Washington School Advisory Committee will analyze and make recommendations to the city council on the assessment, proposed design, renovations, and the redevelopment of the building, from planning through construction, said Brady Moore, deputy city manager.

The committee will have at least one person on it that is also a member of the Washington School Alumni Association.

“The Washington School is a very, very important part of our community — it makes us whole again,” said Karen Washington, president of the Washington School Alumni Association. “I am definitely glad we were able to get the school back.”

Prior to the vote, Washington addressed the city council and said, “I’m very hopeful we get a resolution approved so that we can make this school a part of our community as it should be.”

“There’s some very, very important history there,” Washington added, pointing out that numbers of alumni are dwindling. “At one point, we had 402 members in our association, now (we are) down to less than 60 — gone because of age.”

Therefore, time is of the essence in getting this project moving forward and having the committee in place is “going to make this happen,” Washington said.

At 5:30 pm Feb. 24 the alumni association and others have planned a community fundraiser — which is a sports banquet fundraiser, Washington said — as there are four members they plan to honor who helped the school win a state sports championship, now almost 75 years ago.

With the resolution unanimously adopted, Mayor Will Joyce said, “We’re looking forward to seeing more done at Washington School.”

And, he said, “We’re looking forward to seeing folks who are interested in serving on this board, and get folks appointed as quickly as we can.”

Moore said, “Anyone may apply and applications may be found and filled out online.”

He predicted some of the citizens and alumni already active in this project will be submitting applications.

For Washington and others who have worked to get to this historical moment with the Washington School, Washington said, “It’s a good history that needs to be told because it makes us complete.

“I don’t know anybody that goes forward without looking back — so for me that’s how the community can be whole again — look back and see what happened so we can make the best community going forward.”

In other important community news, Joyce asked everyone in the city to please join Stillwater officials and others next week in the first community meeting for “Envision Stillwater” — the Stillwater Comprehensive Plan 2025-2045 — to open up a diversified dialogue on Stillwater’s future.

“This plan takes into account what our town wants to see over the next 10, 15, 20 years, so we want to hear your voice and collectively determine what those next 20 years — to see what a healthy, successful Stillwater — will look like,” Joyce said.

This event will happen from 5-6:30 pm, Tuesday, Feb. 13 at the Stillwater Community Center, Lowry Activity Center, 315 W. 8th Street.

In other announcements, the council made two appointments to the Board of Adjustment. Bryan Langford-Loftis and Micah Sexton will serve in these roles.

Joyce said the board plays a big role in matters of appeal and variances when it comes to our building codes and city codes, and “so we really appreciate their service there.”

“If you would like to get involved in your local government, we have many boards and committees for consideration — (and currently) the City is accepting applications for citizen representatives to serve on the audit committee, someone with business experience, and the term is three years,” Councilor Christie Hawkins said.

City offices will be closed on President’s Day, Monday Feb. 19; trash, recycling and yard waste will still be collected.

Last, the Stillwater Community Library is offering free tax filing assistance for a limited number of appointments. To query about this, please call 405-372-3633 ext. 8106 or stop by the library.