The purpose of this petition is to alert the residents of Ocala and Marion County--and all those interested in preserving historic neighborhood schools--to the potential threat of demolition posed to Central Elementary, currently known as the Marion County School Board Building.

The undersigned believe Central Elementary is worthy of restoration for reasons of local, state, and national significance.  As a historic landmark on the National Register of Historic Places, Central Elementary was the product of early twentieth-century visionary thinking.  Built in 1907, Central Elementary was 'central' to downtown Ocala and to the core values of the community that surrounded it.  An excellent example of Edwardian architecture popular in the first decade of the 1900s, Central Elementary was the first brick-and-mortar school in Ocala and Marion County.  Two other historic neighborhood schools, still in operation today, were built within blocks of Central forming an academic complex that was a rarity among rural communities across America at this time. 

The undersigned would like to encourage a public dialogue between the Marion County Public School Board, the City of Ocala, County Commission, and the Historic Ocala Preservation Society.  We would like to see the building restored to its original state and continue to be used as an educational space for future generations.  We ask the Marion County Public Schools, owner of said property, as well as local and county officials who regulate development for our community, to take action to protect and preserve this important historic building from destruction.