HASTINGS, Fla. – Old Hastings High School, known as the “Grand Old Lady,” is getting a new life and a new mission.
The 101‑year‑old building has been a high school, elementary school, town hall, library and community gathering space.
Now it’s in the middle of a more than $17 million renovation to become a satellite campus of First Coast Technical College and a hub for workforce training, adult education and childcare.
St. Johns County and the St. Johns County School District are investing the money to renovate the building. Adults will be able to finish their high school diploma or GED, take English as a Second Language classes and enroll in workforce programs like cosmetology and medical assisting, with lab spaces designed to feel like real workplaces.
The south side of the building will house classrooms for 2‑, 3‑ and 4‑year‑olds and serve as a training lab for high school students and adults who want to become childcare workers.
County leaders said combining childcare with job training will help remove a major barrier for parents who want to go back to school.
While the inside is being modernized, crews are preserving original features like the front doors and scrollwork, 101‑year‑old stairs, stained glass windows in the auditorium and memorial bricks installed by the former Town of Hastings.
Residents said it’s long overdue.
“Well, since we don’t really have anything here at all, [it’ll] probably be pretty significant,” said Joseph Brooks, who lives in Hastings. Others told News4JAX, “These kids really haven’t had anything” like this close to home.
Construction on the first floor is expected to be finished by August, though an opening date has not been set. The county plans to build out the second floor later and says it also hopes to add another workforce training building on the same property.