DEACTUR, GA — The City Schools of Decatur Board of Education is backing away from plans to build an early childhood learning center on West Trinity Place following opposition from community members.

The board voted unanimously to instead focus on upgrading the Frasier Center on the Decatur High School property to serve as an early childhood learning center for up to 120 students.

The original proposal called for developing property at 346 West Trinity Place. Some community members have called for the land to receive a historic designation because of its ties to African American and Indigenous communities.

Resident Wanda Waters said the property was home to a community of African Americans descended from freed slaves following the Civil War.

“We have declared or asked for it to be made a historic site because there is nothing in the field catered to identify the African American community that lived there,” Waters said.

The land was also once home to the Muscogee Creek people before they were forced out during the relocation of Indigenous people known as the Trail of Tears.

“Long before the African American descendants were there, the Muscogee Creek Nation lived on that very land,” Waters said.

Some residents have also pushed for the property to remain greenspace. Mary Karwoski said the land has functioned as a park for the Beacon Hill community for more than a decade.

“The downtown master plan even speaks specifically to this particular block and it recommends prioritizing park space as a meaningful and proper element in the site plan for any future development of that site,” Karwoski said.

The school board has not said what it will do with the West Trinity Place property.

There are also financing issues with either proposal because both exceed the $20 million limit for the use of Public Facilities Authority bonds without voter approval.