It has been 19 years since Pine Street Middle School’s hallways were full of students. Finally, after its nearly two decades of neglect, the area may once again welcome students through its doors and rejoin the Texarkana community.

On July 27, TISD announced a proposition to reacquire and reconstruct the now dilapidated Pine Street Middle School on 1915 Pine St. Local families are excited to see not only the construction on a historical site but also the prospects it offers to the community.

“There’s a proposal by the district right now to move two of our area elementary schools, Spring Lake Park and Highland Park, and combine them on the site of Pine Street,” Assistant Principal  Julius Anderson said. “That site was previously owned by TISD and was repurchased recently.”

Spectators may be tempted to question what the school culture will look like as a result of subsuming two different schools into its campus. However, it is important to note that there is still quite a long way to go before construction on the new school even begins; an estimated date of completion is still undetermined.

“We’ll go through a bidding process with several companies to see about what the construction will look like, and what the timeline on that would be,” Anderson said. “It would be at least a couple of years before it would be ready for someone to move into the building.”

In spite of the uncertainties surrounding the reconstruction, local families are still very excited about a future that holds a fully operational, fully rebuilt school in Pine Street Middle School’s place. Such excitement is reflected in the student body around the local area.

“My siblings have already kinda grown out of [that age], but I’m still happy about a new school,” junior Nevar McCoy said. “I think they’ll probably have new stuff for the students since the school is really old, and I want to see what they will have there.”

Families also value the direction that a new central schooling location provides; parents previously torn between sending their children to either Highland Park or Spring Lake Park can now simply direct them to Pine Street.

“Me and my family have moved around a lot, and we’ve honestly been really concerned where my youngest sister will go to school,” sophomore Jose Martinez said. “But if Pine Street is fully done in time, we don’t really need to worry about that issue anymore.”

When all is said and done, the construction of a new school is exciting news for those involved: parents receive a new institution to teach their children, and students get a blank canvas to paint on their personalities and cultures. Even if it may take a while longer, the wait will most certainly be worth it because the day the new school’s doors swing open is the day a new generation of students will be born.

“Honestly, I think most if not everyone is happy about TISD taking over Pine Street MS, it was genuinely kind of upsetting to see the school just get neglected,” Martinez said. “With reconstruction being planned, I’m curious how a piece of the past will be brought back into modern Texarkana.”