Lane College to lease portion of Jackson Central-Merry campus

JACKSON, Tenn. — The music of Lane College will soon fill the halls of a portion of the Jackson Central-Merry campus.

The school district agreed to let the college use the old band and chorus rooms for their programs at Lane, a problem the school says they needed to address.

The school’s president, Dr. Logan Hampton, showed WBBJ around the campus Friday afternoon who said the agreement is a win for everybody involved.

“This partnership brings together a number of entities,” Dr. Hampton said. “It brings together the school district. It brings in a higher education. It brings together the community, brings Lane College alumni, JCM alumni. The possibilities are not necessarily endless, but they are many.”

The prospects of the historically black college having a larger footprint in their community has those who live nearby supporting the plan.

“I’d rather see them expand and somebody use it,” Robertson Smith, who lives nearby, told WBBJ. “It’s a sin for knowledge to die. You got to leave something for your children to keep that knowledge going.”

Keeping the tradition and heritage of the historic east Jackson school is something Lane College said will always be in mind.

“We celebrate that history. We recognize that history, and as a community of scholars, we will be careful to honor the history of JCM and Merry High School,” Dr. Hampton said.

Lane’s lease is year-to-year, in which Lane would pay $100 for the space.

They also will pay for 40 percent of the utilities and will reimburse all costs for maintenance and upkeep of grounds.

Lane officials said they hope to have the facilities ready for their students in time to start their band camp in early August.