Putnam County will preserve the old Park View Elementary sandstone sign, by donating the sign to the Cookeville History Museum.
Putnam County Archivist Glenn Jones said Park View first got the sign in 1976 to celebrate the United States Bicentennial. Jones said the old Park View School opened in 1952 and was a staple of the community.
“Think how many people went to school there from 1952 till now, and how many people play ball, and there used to be the Park View swimming pool, they took it out and put the skate park, so Park View, you know, has a lot of history for a lot of people growing up here in Cookeville,” Jones said.
Jones said he believes any type of sign, like the old Park View sign, should always be preserved. Jones said that when the sign is on display, he hopes people will reminisce about their childhood.
“People who went somewhere they like to reminisce when they go to a museum and see the stuff that they remember as a kid, and no telling how many people had their picture taken in front of that sign,” Jones said.
Jones said the sign is in great condition, and other than the sign being heavy, there should be no big issue moving the sign. Jones said the sign will not be on display in the immediate future as the museum will have to find space to display it.
“At least it will be saved, that’s all I can hope for,” Jones said. “Nobody knows the future on something like that because they have to build schools and everything, you can’t just, you know, plan to build a bigger museum. We’ve got to be happy with what we got, but when something like that is there, we need to try and save it too.”
Jones said the Putnam County Schools board was generous enough to donate the sign to the museum.
The old Park View school will now serve as a Pre-K center and will be called the Putnam County School System Early Learning Academy.
