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November 21, 2009

By Jean Cole The News Courier Sat Nov 21, 2009, 08:30 PM CST

Floyd Kirk may be one of the only people sorry to see the Limestone County jail torn down.

Built 48 years ago by Chambers Lumber Co. and Romine Plumbing and Electric, the jail is now a pile of dusty rubble at the corner of Green and Madison streets in Athens.

Kirk hasn’t been weeping. But watching workers dismantled the obsolete jail these past two weeks has left him in reverie.

“I drive by every day to see how much is gone,” said Kirk, who lives in Athens. “I can see what work I did in different places. I’m surprised they tore it down so quickly.”

The work began in January 1961.

That year, John F. Kennedy had delivered his famous inaugural speech.

The Peace Corp was founded.

The Bay of Pigs invasion had flopped.

Ham the chimp traveled to outer space.

West Side Story won the best picture Oscar.

Clyde Ennis was sheriff of Limestone County.

Homer McLemore was County Commission chairman.

And 41-year-old Kirk, a carpenter for Chambers, was helping put reinforced steel into the

white concrete.

DCA Ready Mix supplied the mud.

“There are not many of us still living who worked on it,” Kirk said. “We started in early January and it took us almost a year to build it.”

The weather was good.

The rebar was so solid, Kirk had to use a blowtorch to cut it instead of a saw.

The job wasn’t bid like projects are today. The county paid the cost of materials plus 10 percent, Kirk said.

“It made you feel good when you got through and could see what you helped build,” he said.

He had a hand in other Athens edifices, including First Federal Bank, which is now the Limestone County Water and Sewer Authority Building, Athens Middle School, Athens Elementary School, Decatur Church of Christ and First Baptist Church on Clinton Street, where he also goes to church.

Kirk learned carpentry during his five years in the Army. He spent four years and eight months of his life in the National Guard during World War II.

He spent 32 months stationed in the Aleutian Islands and also served in France and Germany.

His late wife, Vergie Kirk, who died 15 years ago, was a cadet nurse who served in Birmingham.

Together, they had two children — Sonny Kirk and Kathy Bauer — who gave them six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

When he sees the jail coming down, he is reminded of the time that has passed, where he has been and what he has touched in his 89 years.

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