By Samantha Swindler/Managing Editor
Children will soon be roaming the halls of the old Artemus school once again — this time as part of the new Sarah Kathrn Ramsey Performing Arts Center.
Rebecca Reel-Hampton, owner of Elite Gymnastics, LLC of Barbourville, plans to move her business into the school and eventually expand offerings in the visual and performing arts — including classes in guitar, piano, singing, art, quilting, drama and more.
The Artemus school is located about three miles outside of Barbourville and was built in the 1930s as a Works Progress Administration project. It was closed to students in 2008 with the opening of the new Central Elementary. Businessman Ken Ramsey, a graduate of Artemus High School and founder of the Ramcell company, purchased the building at auction last September.
Ramsey’s humble roots go back to Artemus, but today he’s a millionaire who owns several radio stations, plenty of real estate and a successful horse farm in Lexington.
“Who I am stems from my days at Artemus,” Ramsey said during a chamber banquet last year. “I started when I was 5 years old and graduated when I was 16. I was lucky enough to be the valedictorian of the high school graduating class, which turned out to be a turning point in my life.”
Knox County Chamber of Commerce President Darren West said Ramsey bought the school with hopes of making it into a community gathering place. The arts center will be named for his wife, Sarah Kathrn Ramsey, who is also an Artemus native.
“Anything to improve the area, anything to showcase Artemus, he’s for,” West said. “He and Kat just thought it would be a tremendous opportunity for that community.”
Reel-Hampton spoke with the Ramseys and received Mrs. Ramsey’s blessing to use the building for the arts center and name it after her.
“When the school was sold and Mr. Ramsey bought it, he bought it with a purpose to see that it served the community and children,” Reel-Hampton said. “...They wanted the school to remain just that — a facility for fostering learning.”
Reel-Hampton hopes the center will “bring more to the community artistically, and give a place for children to foster a love for art or music or dance, and for even older adults to come and learn different forms of dance.”
Phase one will move the existing ballet (taught by Knox County school teacher Brittany Lockard-Smith) and gymnastics classes into the school. In subsequent phases, Reel-Hampton plans to add various types of classes for children, and even adult classes such as ballroom dancing.
She hopes to move Elite Gymnastics into the school building by October.
“This is something that the Rasmeys and I see being here for a long time,” Reel-Hampton said. “This is something that when I die, I want to know that it’s there operating.”
For now, the center will function as part of the Elite Gymnastics business, but Reel-Hampton has not ruled out the possibility of it growing into a non-profit center.
“The pricing is going to be very affordable,” she said. “Really, we’re in it for the kids, so to transition into a non-profit, down the road, that may insure it’s viability.
“We’re not in this for money,” added Reel-Hampton, who’s a Knox County native along with her husband. “We’re in this for the community and we want to make sure that all children have a place where they can go and express themselves positively.”
Anyone interested in eventually teaching an arts class, or for more information on the Sarah Kathrn Ramsey Performing Arts Center, can contact Elite Gymnastics at 606-545-9462.
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