MILFORD, Del. -- On Monday, the Milford School Board awarded a bid to a contractor to begin demolishing parts of the abandoned Milford Middled School.
The school, originally built in 1929, has sat vacant since it was closed down in 2013. For decades, it served the Milford community as a middle school and high school.
Most notably, the school is known for its involvement in a desegregation crisis in 1954 when eleven African-American students unsuccessfully attempted to integrate the then Milford High School. Years later, seven African-American students became the first to graduate from Milford High School in 1965.
Milford Museum President Charles Hammond was one of the seven.
"It was a place to receive what I consider a quality education, and during the course of our inception in 1962, we went there to get that education," says Hammond.
The district plans to preserve the original three-story portion of the building, the gymnasium, and the auditorium. The contractor's goal is to complete the demolition by Nov. 22.
"We are in the design phase, so the actual construction documents and the designs have been submitted, and the external things," says district Chief Financial Officer Sara Hale. "So now it's down picking materials, and colors and all that fun stuff, which is a lot more than you'd expect, but it's been an exciting process and we're really enjoying it," says Hale.
The ultimate goal is for Milford Middle School to open for 1,000 fifth and sixth grade students by Fall 2025.
