By Don Owen
NKyTribune reporter
One of the most distinguishing features of the old Fourth Street School in Newport was the stone wall that surrounded the facility.
With the property set to become a mixture of residential and commercial development in the near future, Newport leaders have taken steps to preserve parts of the historic stone wall of Fourth Street School.
Newport leaders have taken steps to preserve parts of the historical stone wall that surrounds the old Fourth Street School property.
Newport city manager Thomas Fromme gave an update about the subject during Monday night’s city commission caucus meeting.
“They are disassembling the wall as we speak, and it will be stored underneath the highway near where the old city garage was [in Newport’s east end],” Fromme said. “They are going to use some of the wall when they build the new place, just like an architectural touch. It’s part of their design, but they’re only going to use a small portion of it.”
Having been built in the 1930s as part of the public works projects under the Works Progress Administration, Fourth Street School had served junior high and elementary students for seven decades. Fromme said the unique stone wall had actually been constructed before the actual building.
“We just didn’t want to lose the history of that wall,” he said. “The stone wall was built almost 100 years ago at that site before the school was there.”
Fromme said he expects the ground to broken on the property in June, and the new structure should be finished in approximately 18 months.
In other items from Monday’s meeting:
• Christy Zerges of Go Vibrant gave a presentation detailing potential walking routes in Newport. The walking routes ranged from one mile to 3.75 miles, with each path passing or starting at Newport on the Levee.
• Fromme updated the board on the Newport SkyWheel project near Newport on the Levee. It will be located north of the Newport Aquarium and Mitchell’s Fish Market in the Newport Festival Park area.
The Newport SkyWheel will stand more than 230-feet tall with 30 climate-controlled gondolas. It will be mounted on a pier out toward the Ohio River. Construction could begin this calendar year.
“People are asking about it all the time,” Fromme said of the Skywheel.
The board of commissioners will convene again in a regular meeting May 21 at 7 p.m.
