Michael’s name gleams again at Gardner Street Elementary School
For seven years, the letters proclaiming Michael Jackson Auditorium at Gardner Street Elementary were covered, placed at the behest of parents shortly after Michael’s arrest in 2003. Now, just over a year after his death, the sign is back!
For seven years, the gleaming silver letters that once proclaimed Michael Jackson Auditorium at Gardner Street Elementary School in Hollywood were hidden behind white plywood boards. The boards had been placed there at the behest of parents shortly after Michael was arrested on suspicion of child molestation in 2003. Since his death last year, fans had rallied for the restoration of the sign, which they saw as a symbol of Michael’s legacy.
Now, Jackson’s name gleams again.
Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. Ramon C. Cortines ordered the boards stripped away Friday “in recognition of Michael Jackson’s musical legacy and contribution to modern culture.” A school district spokesman said the decision was made in large part because Michael had been acquitted of criminal charges in the molestation case.
On Friday night, a Facebook page calling for the restoration of the sign was overflowing with joyous comments. ”I could cry!!” one person wrote. “I wish he were here to see this!!” On the page, devotees from places as far away as Japan and Sri Lanka posted photos of themselves holding handmade posters calling for the boards to be stripped away. Fans had planned to show up at a school board meeting Tuesday to demand that the sign be revealed.
Michael was briefly enrolled at Gardner Street Elementary. In 1969, he and his family moved to Los Angeles from Gary, Ind., so that Michael and his brothers could make a record with Motown. Michael was an 11-year-old sixth-grader at the school when the Jackson 5 released their debut album, a smash hit that foreshadowed Michael’s record-breaking solo career. The Gardner auditorium was dedicated to Michael in 1989. He attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, where the school’s choir sang “We Are the World,”.
An illustration of Michael’s face was posted in the auditorium in 1989, and a picture depicting him surrounded by children was hung in the main office. The auditorium drawing was removed several years ago because it kept falling down, schools officials said. The picture in the office was removed to make room for an intercom system, officials said.
