With the new Brewton Middle School rising quickly at its new location at Old Castleberry Road and U.S. 31, the old Brewton Middle School will be vacant by the time school starts in fall 2011.

But two groups of residents are working together to try to transform the building into a community center so that it can be used for years to come.

A neighborhood steering committee has joined with the Coalition for a Healthier Escambia County to garner support for the project.

Organizers believe the community center could be a hub of activity for education, exercise and community events. The coalition is in particular interested in the health benefits that such a center could provide.

As organizer Alline Manuel said, the project will serve “the entire city.”

When the city sold property to the city school board for its new middle school, the city council set aside $100,000 in the event that the old school would be turned into a community center.

We hope that if city council members see the value in using the old school, they will partner with the neighborhood group and the Coalition for a Healthy Escambia County to keep the building open and available for community use.