More than 70 years ago, Karen Sloan started kindergarten at Clearwater’s North Ward Elementary School.
The school, built in 1915, was one of Pinellas County’s first public schools. Sloan, 76, would eat lunch with her classmates under the trees when the weather was nice outside, and she still remembers the songs she learned in class.
“I don’t have any bad memories,” she said.
The elementary, north of downtown, has decades of history, but has sat vacant since it closed in 2009. Community members and former students have remained invested in the school’s future, and this week they had the opportunity to provide input on what happens with the storied elementary.
Earlier this month, the city let residents, developers and other stakeholders have the chance to tour the school, learn about its history and share their ideas for the 2-acre site. The city is in a marketing phase before it releases an official request for proposals.
More than 30 developers RSVP’d for the event.
“Not only does it have a particular meaning for all those who attended here, but it has particular meaning for this neighborhood,” Mayor Bruce Rector said of North Ward. “We’re really doing a lot of exciting things that will help hopefully lift up this community.”
Located at 900 N. Fort Harrison Ave., the elementary is in Clearwater’s North Marina Area near the harbor. North Ward was a segregated school for white students until the late 1960s and early ’70s. During budget cuts in 2009, it closed.
In 2019, Clearwater purchased the property for $1.8 million from the Pinellas County School Board as part of an effort to revitalize the neighborhood. In 2021, North Ward was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The city last year discussed marketing the property, and using the feedback from the community, it will work on creating an official request for redevelopment.
Two independent property appraisals from last year valued the site at $1.6 million and $2.7 million, according to a city presentation from December.
“It’s nice to be able to have something like this, a true jewel, a treasure in the community, and then be able to claim it as yours at a very young age,” said former student Jzon Livingston, who attended North Ward for fourth and fifth grades.
North Ward falls in the boundaries of the North Greenwood Community Redevelopment Area. Community leaders worked for years to earn the designation as a redevelopment area, which allows the city to direct taxes toward projects and efforts that bring economic opportunity to the neighborhood.
As a part of Clearwater’s goals for the redevelopment of North Ward, City Manager Jennifer Poirrier said the city wants to make sure its “supporting the continued revitalization” of North Greenwood.
The renewed effort to develop North Ward comes as the Community Redevelopment Agency is working on a shipping container mini-mall that will have a range of local businesses in North Greenwood.
“The reimagining of North Ward is part of the transformation that’s happening in the North Greenwood area,“ said Pinellas County Economic Development Director Cynthia Johnson. “When it’s good in Clearwater, it’s good in Pinellas.”
