CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — For more than two decades, the old Charles W. Crossley Elementary School has stood as a boarded-up reminder of the past in Corpus Christi’s Northside community.

The campus, which first opened in 1926, was originally built to serve elementary and middle school students before focusing on grades one through six. As the Hillcrest and Washington-Coles neighborhoods grew into a predominantly African American community during the 1900s, Crossley became one of the few schools to serve students of color.

“I see a once beautiful school , just into shambles," former student, Deanna King, said as she stood in front of the building on Koepke Street.

King said she remembers the joy of being a student there with several teachers making an impact on her future. She reminisces o

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