Woodstock — It was a sad day for many members of the Woodstock Community when word spread that the community’s elementary school would be closing to make way for a newer facility down the road.

“I love this place,” said Wanda Hood, who worked as an aid for eight years at the school, which began its long history in 1900 as a one-room school house.

Others have shared a larger part of their life with the school, including Wilma Wilburn, who was a cook at the school for 37 years.

Hood and Wilburn’s love for the facility is shared by many, as evidenced by the more than 50 concerned citizens who gathered in the school’s gym Tuesday evening to discuss the fate of Woodstock Elementary, located about 12 miles north of Somerset on Ky. 39.

“We all want a (community) center that provides for itself,” said Wes Hargis.

The close-knit community has made it clear they want to continue to utilize the old Woodstock building, especially since some have seen several generations in their families walk the halls of the school, including Roberta Poynter, who saw two children, four grandchildren and a great-grandchild attend the school.

Tuesday’s gathering was the second of its kind, and everyone there appeared to be in favor of leasing the building through the county as a community center.

That will help lift Clara Ballard’s sadness at the closing of the school, who liked to watch the children who grew up at Woodstock.

“We’d walk out this road and see the children playing,” Ballard said.

Pulaski County Judge-executive Barty Bullock, Third District Magistrate Tommy Barnett and Fourth District Magistrate Glenn Maxey helped guide the meeting.

Several people expressed interest in serving on a board that would oversee operations at the center, and an ad hoc committee was appointed to operate until Pulaski County Fiscal Court can visit the situation on Tuesday and — should the center be approved — begin the process of appointing a board.

“We want something that’s good, that helps everybody here,” Hargis said.

The school closed its doors earlier this year in anticipation of the opening of the new Northern Elementary School, located about 6 miles north of Somerset on Ky. 39. The more than 100 students who attended Woodstock Elementary will step foot in the new facility for the first time this upcoming school year.

The crowd discussed necessary additions to the facility should it be approved as a community center, including installing a septic system and fencing the facility and the nine acres it’s located on to help keep vandals out.

Other additions, like a walking track, were also discussed.

But those changes will take funding — something that was also discussed at length Tuesday.

“The county will always be here for you,” said county executive secretary Tiffany Finley Bourne. “We can help you ... get whatever you need.”

Hargis and others said they’d like to see the center operate mostly on donated funds, and several people asked on Tuesday to make donations to the center.

The Pulaski County Fiscal Court is expected to discuss the school on Tuesday during its 10 a.m. meeting, and several citizens stated they would plan to appear at the meeting to represent the community.

Anyone interested in donating to support the Woodstock Community Center can contact Andy Roberts at 875-3979.