Built in 1961, Grassy Elementary was the site of many ferocious grade school basketball games during the past half century. It will be demolished soon…
Editor’s note: WSAZ News is reporting that a once vibrant elementary school in Martin County is being torn down and the space will be used for a new community center in it’s place. Judge/Executive Dr. Lonnie Lafferty announced yesterday that Grassy Elementary, the home of many knock down drag out basketball games in it’s time and future stars like Odell Pack, Jackie Whitt, Billy Endicott, Larry James, Sr. and countless others ended up as starters at the old Inez High, will be demolished and a new community center built to replace it. Here is their story. (The picture above is from the WSAZ video which you can watch by clicking on the pic.)
By Andrew Colegrove
Published: Jan. 2, 2025 at 4:29 PM EST|Updated: 18 hours ago
MARTIN COUNTY, Ky. (WSAZ) – A former elementary school that’s become an eyesore and source of problems is slated to be torn down.
“It’s getting worse all the time,” Mark Dalton, who lives near the school, said. “The roof is falling in.”
Sunlight pours into areas of the former Grassy Elementary in Martin County where it was never intended. Weeds and foliage are growing where students once sat at their desks.
“It’s just a mess,” Dalton said.
Neighbors say it’s been disheartening to watch a former source of community pride fall into a state of disrepair.
“It’s nothing to look at,” Dalton said.
“The building has become a health hazard with children sneaking in and out at times,” Martin County Judge/Executive Lon Lafferty said.
Lafferty says the building also draws snakes, mosquitoes, and vermin.
The school, built in 1961, closed due to consolidation in 2002.
The county acquired the property and created a park next to the building.
Lafferty says efforts to tear the structure down go back two decades.
“It’s because of lack of funding they haven’t been able to do it,” he said.
