Bengals players and community members come together to help rebuild Eckstine School

GLENDALE, Ohio — More than a month later. owner Bill Parish led us through the graffiti-riddled halls of the historic Eckstine School. in Glendale, community members gathered to begin cleaning up and preparing the building for construction and renovation.

A large group pulled weeds, cleared greens and cleared away trash in the first step toward rebuilding the once isolated school.

Bengals center Ted Karras helped lead the effort Tuesday, inspired by watching “Parrish” on WCPO 9 News in September.

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“I saw Bill on the news talking about Week 2, after Monday Night Football, and what an important mission it was and the amazing history right here in Glendale,” Karras said. “(I) really just wanted to throw in my hat and help in any way I could.”

And that’s exactly what he did, teaming up with his construction company Paradigm and Bengals teammates like Orlando Brown Jr., Alex Cappa and Cordell Wolson. Several local organizations and community members also stepped up to help.

“The main goal was to attract people here and understand what the mission of the Eckstein School is and what the project will be. I want as many people as possible to pay attention to this,” Karras said.

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This project involves using the Eckstein School building to create a community cultural arts center. It was with this goal in mind that Parrish founded the nonprofit Eckstine Center for the Cultural Arts.

“All kinds of kids from all over the world, you know, creating a safe place for them,” Parrish said.

Dr. Raymond Terrell, an Eckstine School alumnus and board member of the Eckstine Cultural Arts Center, was on hand for the cleanup.

“I’m really happy, I just feel elated to see how things are going,” Terrell said. “It took a long time to get to this stage.”

Marlena Lang | VKPO

He said the creation of a community center is a perfect fit for the school, showing exactly what the building once was for its students.

“This facility was more than a school,” Terrell said. “It was really the center of culture and life for the African-American community.”

Everyone close to the school said they are looking forward to what comes next and that it will greatly benefit the Glendale community.

Karras said he and Paradigm will be involved with the project until the very end. The current plan is to begin construction and renovations in December.