by Cathy Wright
This time next year I’ll be back in the place where my life first began! And my life will have come full circle. I was born in what is now called the historic Newnan Hospital on Jackson Street in downtown Newnan. Built in 1925 and having undergone many additions through the years, at the time of my birth and for many years after, it was the only hospital. Everybody I knew was born there, worked there, got better there, or died there. I know all the hallways intimately. Several of my high school friends and I worked there in the summers and during holiday breaks as ‘blueskirts’ (nurses’ aides who wore blue uniforms). I saw births and deaths there, watched surgeries, fed patients, made beds, checked vital signs, cleaned bedpans. And I decided that I did not want to be a nurse.
At that time, the only career options suggested to females in the high schools were nurse, teacher, secretary, and homemaker. I was an excellent student, at the top of my class; and my work in the hospital and later at PAPP Clinic did pique an interest in the medical field. But there was no encouragement from teachers or counselors for that kind of pursuit, no money, either. I think I would have made a good doctor or medical researcher. Not in the plan.
My family was not wealthy, so scholarships did get me into college, where I drifted rather accidentally into the field of education. I taught elementary school in Coweta County for 16 years, directed a regional branch of a science center (Georgia Youth Science & Technology Center) for 17 years, teaching science and math methods to teachers of Pre-K through 8th grade classrooms. The GYSTC was located in the Georgia Power building which has housed the University’s Newnan Center for the past 23 years. When the former Newnan Center director, Rob Tornow, retired in 2007, I became the Center’s director. This job has been the most exciting and challenging of my life.
The most wonderful thing ever is happening now! The Newnan Center is relocating to the old Newnan Hospital, which has been vacant for some time now and is undergoing extensive renovations. The $15 million project is being funded by a collaboration of the City of Newnan, Coweta County, Newnan Hospital, Inc., and the University of West Georgia.
We took a tour of the hospital last Friday. It was so exciting that I could tell exactly where each room would be, even though there are no walls. The floor plan was so recognizable. The OB wing where I was born and nurtured is being demolished to make room for a beautiful 120-seat lecture hall. That’s okay. There will be science labs, computer labs, classrooms, nursing labs and simulation rooms, study areas, and a courtyard. The old ‘solarium’ will become a great seating/study area for students. It will become a real showplace for the downtown community, will allow for growth of enrollment and programs, and will bring much needed publicity to UWG’s Newnan Center. My office will be located in the original 1925 section of the old hospital building, and I’ll be right back where I started my life in the hot summer of 1951.
Cathy Wright is the director of the Newnan Center.
