Way Back Wednesday in Calhoun County---June 13-19

Anniston’s Centennial was celebrated in 1983. As part of the celebration, the Anniston City Council passed a resolution to create a centennial park. The park was scheduled to be built on the site of the former Quintard Elementary School. The school building, constructed in 1912, had served as a junior high school after the World Wars, but reverted to a grammar school until it was closed in the late 1960s. The school was turned over to vocational rehab for most of the 1970s then finally demolished to make way for the park.

A local architect was hired to design a plan for the park. Originally, the design called for an amphitheater but it was felt the traffic from Quintard Avenue would be a problem for hearing the performances. In addition, to save on costs, a wall on the Seventeenth Street side was scaled back in the design plan. Construction was set for Spring 1984. The completed design, presented in November 1984, was to include the Anniston High School Auditorium arches, a reflecting pool in the shape of the state, and a restored trolley owned by a local businessman.

Alumni of Anniston High School were asked to participate in park by purchasing bricks with their names and graduation date engraved. These bricks were to line the walkways. The Anniston High School building was built in the early 1930s facing Leighton Avenue. When the new high school was built in 1971, the arches from the auditorium were saved to be used in the park design.

By the mid-1990s, the city had stalled on plans to develop the park. It was around this time that the direction of the park changed from celebrating Anniston’s Centennial to honoring the state’s veterans. The park memorial was to include the name of Alabama military personnel that were lost during the conflicts of the 20th Century from World War I to Desert Storm. The centerpiece of the memorial was to be the Vietnam Memorial Wall. Around Memorial Day 1995, solicitations for contributions to fund the memorial walls began.

After September 11th, the park’s completion became an obtainable goal. Some elements of the original plans, the Anniston High School Auditorium arches and the state-shaped reflecting pool, remained while the wall with the names of Alabama’s deceased soldiers from all branches of military service became the focal point. Over time, the park has also incorporated first responders killed in the line of duty. The park is the gathering place to honor these heroes each year on the days set aside for remembrance.

To learn more about the history of Calhoun County pick up a copy of Images of America: Calhoun County (ISBN 978-0738589985), Anniston (ISBN 978-0738506012), or Anniston Revisited (ISBN 978-1467114752) by Kimberly O’Dell.