In October of 1999, as the state prepared to transform WhitworthCollege into the Mississippi School of the Arts, I took a walkaround the campus in downtown Brookhaven.

I knew the once proud and stately campus, with the exception ofLampton Auditorium, which was saved by the Brookhaven Trust, hadbeen left to languish over the years. What I wanted to do on thatfall day almost four years ago was capture a mental ‘before photo.’I wanted to see the buildings and remember the condition they werein before the state began its work.

The next few paragraphs are part of a column I wrote after thatvisit.

… Johnson Institute, like other buildings on campus, issuccumbing to neglect and vandals.

Some artifacts from its days of housing classrooms mingle withgarbage and graffiti. Some intricate wood trim and a beaded ceilingare damaged, in all likelihood, beyond repair.

Cooper Hall, the former administration building, has fared nobetter. Here, the graffiti becomes obscene and threatening. Thevandals spared few walls in the effort to spread their vilemessages.

In a neat hand, someone has used spray paint to write, “Neverdegrade mankind for you are a kind of man.” Maybe that was anattempt at humor by someone who obviously feels no remorse atdegrading someone else’s property.

In Enochs Hall, ivy snakes across the bottom floor andintermingles with old tires and various other auto parts. Thetailgate from an old Ford pickup stands just outside one of thedoors. Dead birds and empty beer bottles are scattered about, alongwith branches from an artificial Christmas tree.

Enochs Hall also bears the scars of a renovation attempt in 1982when plans were made to convert it into a dorm and cafeteria for aPresbyterian Bible college. But, the school closed before the workwas finished.

Both the President’s Home and the Teen Tavern are in fairly goodshape, having been used as drug rehabilitation facilities in recentyears, but much work must be done there, too …

I could not believe my eyes when I stepped inside JohnsonInstitute yesterday. It is absolutely spectacular.

Built in 1883, Johnson Institute is the oldest building on thecampus and will serve as the main classroom area when the school ofthe arts opens in a few weeks. The architects and workers have donea tremendous job of updating the building without losing its’historic’ nature.

Also nearing completion is work on the Teen Tavern, which willbe used as an interim administrative office until work on CooperHall is finished. Again, the transformation is astonishing.

Of course, there is still lots of work to be done at theMississippi School of the Arts. Elizabeth Cottage must be saved,and the interior renovations of Cooper Hall and Enochs Hall must becompleted.

The graffiti, the litter and the decay are now gone from thecampus that holds memories for so many.

A week from Sunday, on Aug. 3, the first class of 68 studentswill move into the new Student Life Center, which now towers overthe campus and over Brookhaven.

It’s time for new memories to be made.

Write to Nanette Laster at P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven, Miss.39602 or e-mail to news@dailyleader.com.