Community members gathered at the 1701 10th Street S. education building in south St. Petersburg Thursday evening to celebrate its 100th anniversary. 

When the facility first opened, it was known as Southside Junior High School. Architect Henry Taylor, who also developed plans for the Vinoy Resort & Golf Club, designed the structure. It cost $400,000 to build, St. Petersburg Museum of History executive director Rui Farias explained at the event. 

The institution first shut its doors in 1972. A year later, it would reopen as Southside Alternative School. By 1980, the building became the home of Southside Fundamental Middle School. This iteration lasted until the end of the 2008 – 2009 academic year. 

Eventually, the site was utilized by the University Preparatory Academy charter school. However, it closed in 2016. The property is now occupied by the K – 5th grade Midtown Academy Center for Cultural Arts, Gifted Studies and Literacy Innovation. 

St. Petersburg City Council member Corey Givens Jr. is one of Southside Fundamental Middle School’s most notable alumni. He is a member of the Class of 2006. 

Midtown Academy’s current principal Keila Victor reached out to Givens to see if he would be interested in co-chairing the Thursday event. It was an opportunity he could not say no to. 

“It’s been more than a brick and mortar building,” Givens told the Catalyst. “It’s a living breathing testament to the power of education, especially in south St. Pete.”

St. Petersburg City Council member Corey Givens Jr. speaking at Thursday’s centennial celebration.

During the Council member’s time at the school, he participated in the show choir, which was led by instructor Don Wharton. Wharton, who died in 2020, also taught a television production class. This course inspired Givens to study journalism and communications in college. 

Additionally, he was a member of the school’s band and got to participate in the Smoky Mountain Music Festival in Tennessee. 

“Southside was more than a school for me,” Givens said. “It really was a place where my dreams were nurtured and it prepared me for service.” 

He has family ties to Southside Fundamental Middle School as well. Givens’ grandfather’s brother served as the institution’s principal in the 1970s. 

Chris Touchton was the band director from 2003 to 2009. Givens played the flute for him. Currently, he works at Tarpon Springs Middle School. 

“My first school as a teacher was Southside,” Touchton explained. “Those six years to this day, our family calls it the golden era.” 

What stood out was the “tight-knit” environment and the school’s culture, he added. Many of his students have “become professional musicians or teachers in their own right.” 

Joseph McCoy taught academically gifted children at the school from 1993 to 2009. He explained that the Southside community was “like a family.” 

To make history more fun, McCoy even wrote songs. Topics included the Colorado River and the Civil War. This, he said, helped the students remember important information including dates. 

Many of the school’s attendees, McCoy added, have become “well respected” professionals. “To have a part in that, it was pretty special.” 

Before he opened Ferg’s Sports Bar and Grill in St. Petersburg, Mark Ferguson was a physical education and health teacher at Southside Fundamental Middle School. He worked there from 1982 to 1998. His children also attended the institution. 

Ferguson particularly enjoyed the students’ basketball and flag football games. “I told kids to do push ups every day and run,” he said. “I had fun every day.” 

Before joining the Southside team, Ferguson was employed at Pinellas Park Middle School. After 10 days on the job, he was transferred to the St. Petersburg educational institution. 

Ferguson, who attended Bay Point Middle School, added that he has memories playing basketball against the Southside team. 

Steve Harris was a student in the early 1960s. The Thursday event was an opportunity to reminisce. He even brought his yearbooks. 

Harris enjoyed being a member of the band. He said that the parades were particularly memorable. 

“When you’re in seventh grade, it’s all new,” Harris remembered. “A lot of the kids seemed to be in a time warp and seemed to be a lot older. They had five o’clock shadows.”

Steve Harris, who was a student in the 1960s, brought his yearbooks to the event.

In the 1970s, Cassandra Jackson attended Southside. Her children would later follow suit. 

However, Jackson’s connection with the building is much larger. She would eventually serve as a front office clerk and community liaison. Jackson retired in May 2025 and now volunteers at Midtown Academy. 

Bonding with families was the most important aspect of the job. “The joy of it was that I was mindful to remember the students’ names and their families.”  

This allowed Jackson to build “true” and “genuine” relationships. 

Pinellas County School Board member Dawn Peters was among the elected officials at the Thursday gathering. 

She said that the school’s anniversary “proves how important public education has been to the foundation of St. Petersburg.” The institution’s longevity, Peters added, “reflects resiliency, diversity and just how embedded the public school system is in the Pinellas communities.”

Renovations, she explained, have allowed the building to “maintain its character and history.” Future students will know “where we came from.”