WAVERLY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Years after a historic flood wiped out much of Waverly and Humphreys County, the area has taken another step toward recovery.
The design for a new school, to replace one damaged in the deadly 2021 flooding, was released. Among the infrastructure impacted by the flood was Waverly Elementary and Junior High School.
“FEMA condemned the building as a loss,” Humphreys County School System director Dr. Robert Lanham told News 2. “The state legislature appropriated some money that helped us through the process and it’s guided us toward a new future for the school.”
Humphreys County School System released renderings of what the outside of the new building would look like for both the elementary and junior high school. In the renderings, both schools are under one roof. As of publication, the interior has not been fully designed. However, Lanham said students will have access to new features like an auditorium.
“I am so excited about what the future holds for our kids,” said Lanham.
It’s been a slow recovery process of recovery in Waverly for both the school and the city as a whole.
“Funding has been slow to get into our hands,” Waverly’s mayor, Buddy Frazier, told News 2. “We’re hoping this is the year for that and we’ll see the release of that funding and we can move forward with some of these projects that’s been in planning for so long.”
School officials said the new building is estimated to cost around $75 million with the tentative timeline for the project to be complete in two to three years. The new school would represent a fresh start for those who lost so much years ago.
“Our most vulnerable population — our youngest kids — have, really, had no sense of normalcy with school, so it’s so exciting to get to move toward the future where those kids can go to a school that’s their own and be proud of it,” Lanham added.
