WILKES-BARRE -- It looks as though the Wilkes-Barre Area School District wants to knock down Meyers Junior/Senior High School while still preserving parts of the building.
The school board voted Monday night in favor of a plan that would eventually demolish most of Meyers while keeping the auditorium and football field.
Some graduates tell Newswatch 16 they still think that part of Wilkes-Barre needs a neighborhood school.
When Meyers seniors graduated in their school auditorium in June, they may not have realized they could be one of the last classes to go to school there.
"It’s historical and really should be preserved," said Terrance Williams.
An artist’s bird’s-eye rendering shows how the auditorium would look. Part of the school building on Carey Avenue would be demolished. Part of it would be transformed into a performing arts center. The football field would also be renovated.
"I like that idea as long as they’re gonna remodel and take care of it," said Mike McDade, Meyers Class of 1969.
There are some Meyers graduates who live in south Wilkes-Barre who don’t care if Meyers is torn down or if it’s kept. Joe Borland graduated from Meyers in 2002.
"I love the high school. I love the marble staircase. I love the auditorium. But to me, it’s a building," Borland said.
Borland is in the group Save Meyers High School. What he wants now is to make sure south Wilkes-Barre has its own school.
"The building isn’t nearly as important as the idea of a neighborhood high school in the city of Wilkes-Barre. I think the neighborhood high school is the anchor."
These preliminary plans still have a long way to go, but if the plans and funding are all approved, demolition on Meyers High School could start as early as 2022.