Barely a half day after Jubilee Performing Arts Center’s Main Street building collapsed, director Dr. Terrance Alexander expressed optimism about the upcoming academic year, with classes scheduled to begin Aug. 2.
“As it stands, we plan on starting on time,” he said. “We’re working on some things and we’ll have an official announcement to parents and the community very soon.”
The JPAC elementary school in east McComb usually holds between 40 and 60 students and would be unable to accommodate the 100 or more higher-level students who attend the Main Street location, Alexander said.
Elementary school will start on time, he added.
“The first order of business is to assess what’s going on with the current building, then start looking for possible alternatives, even if it’s a temporary alternative,” Alexander said.
“And we’ll make sure that wherever we go from here, we’ll have plenty of room to accommodate all of our students.”
He noted that the building, which has also housed a bank and J.C. Penney store in its near-century of existence, “was old, like all of downtown, but old and functional.”
The structure had passed annual city inspections.
“We were up to code,” Alexander said. “Our city inspections were thorough. The city was firm but fair, and we were not a condemned building.”
Lacking any firm answers, Alexander relies on his faith.
“At this point, this was the hand of the Lord,” he said. “God knows what he’s doing.”
In an ironic twist, Alexander said he had recently begun discussions with McComb architect Steve Cox about remodeling the building.
The availability of temporary space might be the least of JPAC’s worries. Alexander began receiving offers as soon as word of the building’s collapse began to spread.
“You cannot imagine how many churches have called and said, ‘We will adjust our church schedule so you can have the space,’ or ‘If you need a building, I have a building,’ ” he said.
Alexander was in Jackson Sunday with the JPAC choir. They were attending the Jackson Music Awards ceremony, at which they were nominated for the Community Church Choir of the Year award.
“We were getting ready to go onstage and perform,” Alexander said. “And all our phones began to ring off the hook, and someone said, ‘Terrance, Kramer Roof just collapsed.’ ”
But in the best theatrical tradition, the show went on.
“Everybody took a deep breath and gave the concert, but you could see that all the students — it hit them after the adrenaline of the concert,” Alexander said.
It was 7 or 8 p.m. by the time Alexander returned to McComb — “Time was such a blur” — where he saw the damage firsthand and then met with parents in the depot garage.
“The community has been unbelievable,” Alexander said. “The way the community has come together to help us has been nothing short of amazing. It’s been so humbling.”
Again focusing on the positive, even in the wake of the terrible event, he offered an expression of hope.
“I think this should be a moment where the community understands we still are southern Mississippi, and when it all comes down to it, we all band together.”
Returning to a happier topic, Alexander reported the results of the music awards.
“We won!”
