Lawrence Journal-World opinion section

A recent Journal-World article told an inspiring story of how volunteers have brought the abandoned Lecompton High School building back to life.

As population shifted across Kansas and school districts consolidated, a number of school buildings got left behind, including the Lecompton High School, which closed in 1970. The building later was used by the Northwest Kansas Educational Service Center and an alternative high school, but, after 2012, when ownership of the building reverted to the city of Lecompton, it stood vacant.

The city sought to sell the building, but no suitable buyers were found. The future looked bleak for the school that had once been a center of activity — that is, until the formation of the Lecompton Community Pride group. The all-volunteer group sold the Lecompton City Council on its dream of returning the old high school to a community use. The group got some funding assistance from the Douglas County Community Foundation and the state Community Pride organization, and the city agreed to pay for the building’s insurance and help with maintenance.

The rest was up to the volunteers. Their first priorities were to convert part of the school’s gym to a community meeting room and set up a town library, which now is open 20 hours a week. Since then, the group also has rehabilitated the school’s theater and space for a studio that accommodates youth dance and tumbling classes and adult yoga and fitness instruction. Other rooms provide space for a local sewing circle, a free clothing shop operated by Lecompton United Methodist Church and a weekly morning tea for local residents.

What else could a community want? Just as the volunteers had hoped, the school now is a center of community activity, bringing together people of all ages for a variety of reasons. Rather than a decaying, empty building, the city has a real civic asset.

Volunteers will remain a vital component of this project. The Lecompton Pride group just raised $5,000 in its biggest annual fundraiser, a rummage sale, but, even operating on a shoestring, it costs about $20,000 a year “to keep everything going.”

That’s no small challenge for a town the size of Lecompton, but given its track record, we wouldn’t bet against this committed group of volunteers. Congratulations on a job well done.