RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Several Ligon alumni are fighting to preserve this historically Black school in Raleigh. They say it was more than a just a school.

They tell ABC11 News, students not only earned diplomas there, but also learned trades that helped build up the Capitol City.

Bruce Kennedy went to Ligon 54 years ago.

“I left in our senior year during the integration,” he said.

The lifelong Raleigh resident says he was the last high school class to go there before Ligon was integrated and then converted into a middle school.

Kennedy was sent to Sanderson High to graduate.

“I hated it,” said Kennedy. “I wanted to graduate from there (Ligon) all my life because all my parents, everyone our family, had graduated from there.”

Decades later, the school again could be going through a major change.

Ligon is scheduled for a $141 million renovation.

There have also been discussions about potentially knocking it down and rebuilding.

The school’s future led to a tense exchange at last week’s Wake County School Board meeting.

“It is disrespectful that I don’t know, to be honest. It is disrespectful to the people that I serve,” Board Member Toshiba Rice at the October 14th meeting.

She pressed for an update on plans.

Superintendent Dr. Robert Taylor explained that an architect was selected some time ago and he plans on having conversations with community members about next steps for this project.

“We want to do our due diligence to make sure we talk to the public,” said Taylor at last week’s meeting. “If there is going to be a change or a recommendation that is where it is my responsibility to make sure that I go and talk to them.”

Alumnus Daniel Coleman wants the renovation to move forward and says Ligon has been so much more than just school.

“This symbolizes what Wake County is today,” said Coleman. “Everybody came out here. A lot of kids couldn’t get jobs anyplace else. So they were trained. They were plumbers or brick masons. It filled a whole gamut of educational needs for the community.”

Kennedy doesn’t want to see the building demolished.

He said, “It’s part of our legacy.”

ABC11 reached out to the WCPSS and asked for the timeline on this project. We have not heard back.