Campus Spotlight: Walk of Fame
By Kyle McLaren
While walking across campus, some students encountered a portion of ceramic tiles by the auditorium. Melbourne High School’s Walk of Fame was added around the time the current campus construction was completed. “The Walk of Fame began sometime in the late nineties,” said Dr. Chad Kirk. As part of a campus enhancement project, commemorative tiles were purchased by alumni and placed along a walkway on campus. “I don’t even think it was a fundraiser; they just paid for the tiles,” Mr. Jim Meegan stated. The tiles were meant to be placed on a wall, but rising costs in the project led to the tiles being laid on the ground instead.
The Walk of Fame was a mix of faded and damaged tiles, with some completely missing. “I think that the Walk of Fame is very important and high maintenance to keep in good condition,” said junior, Landon Moore. The tiles had dates ranging from 1921 to 2003 when the project was stopped. Some tiles had paw prints, while others were purchased in memory of a loved one. “It’s important to our school, as it’s been around pretty much since the inception of Mel-High,” said Moore. The 747 tiles that existed had something special in store.
Efforts to preserve and restore the Walk of Fame were underway. A school organization collected the inscriptions on the existing tiles and explored options for a better installation on a wall. “I find the Walk of Fame important as the names on those tiles are names of people that have made an impact on the school and the city of Melbourne in general,” Moore stated. The proposed fundraiser would help preserve the tiles while allowing alumni to purchase one if they did not in the past. “The most interesting tile I found was of a man who went to the school during the 70s and actually became a Broadway actor for New York Broadway,” said Moore.
Locating a suitable wall for the new tiles was difficult. Several modern buildings had patterned brickwork that would clash with the tiles. Some buildings from the 1960s, such as 5 and 15, offered blank walls perfect for the installation of new tiles. “Building 17 would be the best fit for a new Wall of Fame as Building 17 is actually where a lot of the research and future careers for students began for names of those people on the tiles,” stated Moore. Building 17 currently housed HOPE physical education classes, but before the new campus buildings were erected, ROTC used it as their classroom. As Melbourne High School approached 100 years of being an official high school, a new Wall of Fame would show the impact of past alumni and inspire current students to leave their mark.