Monument placed at site of former school

By Staff
Jonathan Willis FCT Staff Writer
The building is gone, but the memories will last forever.
That was the sentiment at a ceremony at the former Russellville High School location Friday morning as a monument was revealed in recognition of the old schoolhouse.
The school sat off of Jackson Avenue behind the current Russellville Utilities building. It was home to Russellville High School students from 1929 to 1960 and was the site of the junior high school until 1984 when the current building was constructed.
Suzanne Langcuster, a 1953 graduate of RHS, and her husband, Cecil, a 1948 graduate of the school, spearheaded the project to pay for the monument, which sits just inside the fence behind the bleachers at R.C. Thomas Stadium.
Money for the project was raised strictly through donations from RHS alumni.
Joab Thomas, former president of the University of Alabama and son of R.C. Thomas who the old stadium is named after, also contributed to the memorial to honor the old building.
After being vacant for several years the building was finally torn down a few years ago. With it came the end of an era.
The monument was built by Atkins Marble and Granite Works in Russellville.
The front of the monument, which faces the parking lot, has a sketch of the old high school. The sketch was drawn by local artist and RHS graduate Doug Allen.
The side of the monument that faces the football field has the words to the RHS alma mater inscribed in it.
The ceremony included approximately 20 former students and teachers at the school who shared their own memories of the building.