Historic Wink Junior and High School to be destroyed next month

A school building that’s housed wink students for nearly a century may soon be a thing of the past.

Some Wink alumni are heartbroken by the coming loss.

“This is the heart and soul of wink,” Wink-Loving ISD School Board Member Minerva Soltero said.

Wink junior and high school is a landmark for Winkler County.

Built in 1929, it’s housed generations of wink students, including rock and roll legend Roy Orbison who often performed in its auditorium.

But next month it could all be torn down.

Voters approved a wink-loving school bond calling for its demolition to make room for a new gym and auditorium.

Soltero has been fighting against its destruction for years.

And she’s not alone.

Both the Texas Historical Commission as well as Roy Orbison’s son urged the school board to preserve the school for its history and architecture.

“It’s all a piece of history,” Jacque McKee, a former Wink maintenance worker and bus driver said. “Just everything in that building.”

However, some are more interested in the future.

Alumni Ashley Baker said she wants the building to come down, so her kids can enjoy the new facilities.

“I hate that this has caused a division in the community, but if this is going to better my kids and wink is capable of doing it, then let’s do it,” Baker said.

The board plans to start tearing down the building in October.