The Mission Statement

“When you are up to your elbows in alligators, it’s tough to remember that the original goal was to drain the swamp.” This is a fun, friendly and time-honored illustration of the importance of a mission statement. A mission statement consists of just a few words to refer to from time to time to remind you of what you set out to do in the first place.

Bath High School Preservation hasn’t ever officially adopted a mission statement, but speeches, letters, and brochures have repeatedly stated their objective as “To promote alternative uses for the former Bath High School building that ensure that the structure is preserved and restored to a place of dignity in the community.”

So how are we doing with that?

The first accomplishment was convincing the Beaufort County School Board to reconsider its plan to demolish the building. The founding members of BHSP met with county officials many times to discuss the options. They also retained attorneys to assist in that communication, to assist in developing strategy and to quickly obtain non-profit corporation status and the credibility that goes with that. The school board did indeed reconsider and reversed their intent to demolish the building as well as granting clear title back to the town of Bath.

BHSP has contracted for or facilitated engineering and architectural studies to determine that the structure is sound, to specify the nature of uses of which it is capable and to analyze the feasibility of some preferred uses.

Contractors and volunteers from BHSP have made a number of critical repairs to the structure. The most critical of those repairs were to the leaky roof. A number of doors and windows have also been replaced. Not only do these repairs keep out the elements of wind and rain, but also the human elements of vandals, and ensure that the building is stable and will remain in as good of a condition as the engineers found it to be.

The repairs to windows and doors also serve an aesthetic purpose. The building is becoming a more attractive element of the community. It is maintained and landscaped.

At this time, there is no plan that BHSP can or will raise all of the funds or supply volunteer labor to completely refurbish the structure into a usable facility. The ongoing face lift is a part of a broader effort to promote the building to agencies, investors and other community service groups that will ultimately complete the task.

Even fundraisers such as golf tournaments, raffles, and banquets are as much about the opportunity to promote and inform as to collect money. While some of the collected funds are earmarked specifically for construction and repairs, a portion of the funds are dedicated to education and awareness in which the potential of the building is advertised to the obvious local agencies as well as all potential users.