By Brian Smith
Three years ago, I joined some friends inside an abandoned high school. We scaled a fire escape staircase, sidled a second-floor outer wall and climbed in an open window. Inside, broken glass covered the dusty terrazzo floors. A pile of old school desks filled the corner of one classroom, one had the word f*** carved into its top. Paint peeled from every ceiling, looming above us. A deflated basketball sat near a pile of trash and a wall of graffiti in the middle of the auditorium stage. Later, strange sounds and voices seemed to echo down the halls toward us, so we left.
As it turns out, you’ve probably been there too. In 2006, SCAD bought the Richard Arnold High School building and began renovations. On Sept. 15, SCAD opened the building as Arnold Hall, where all liberal arts courses are currently housed. Although the physical renovations are impressive and that state of ruin is nowhere to be found, I still feel like I’m entering a high school every day.
All three of my courses this quarter are at Arnold Hall. It’s the only academic building I go to – one school. I show up on my bike and every time, never fail, the two blocks surrounding Arnold Hall is swarming with students, all bottlenecking at the single-door-entrance. The interior retains much of what the high school consisted of.
When I walked the refreshed halls for the first time last week, high school memories rushed back to me. Students with book bags rushing to get to class set it off – I was tempted to find my locker. On break, my friend and I scoped out the auditorium. The original mural (painted in 1935) above the stage still displays portraits of Savannah’s founding fathers like Tomochichi and Button Gwinnett. A small crew was painting the front of the stage. I stood there looking around, anticipating a teacher coming in and asking me for my hall pass, busting us for walking around.
A week later I found myself studying for a New Media quiz on the glossary of our textbook. I got to Arnold early, found a staircase leading to an emergency exit on the lower level, sat down on the steps and opened the book. I was cramming a glossary for a quiz. Then, in the classroom, I watched classmates flipping through index cards and textbooks doing the same thing until the teacher came in – then no one said a word about the quiz, hoping he’d cancel it, which he did.
When I go to Arnold Hall, I can’t help but imagine further classroom clichés – a spitwad flung at someone’s face, a freshman getting a swirlie in the auto-flush toilet, some kid getting a wedgie on break. What’s strange to me is my high school experience happened to be very docile. I don’t have any personal bully memories. It’s like Arnold Hall exemplifies the image of a high school so well, it projects these clichés onto what I expect when I’m there.
I can only wonder what sort of impression this building is giving freshmen. I suppose the transition from high school to college is a lot smoother when you’re taking classes in a high school setting. My suggestion to SCAD – consider a parent pick-up/bus loop, and install bells for added nostalgia.