Now preservationists are getting in on the act.

Capital Area Preservation is recognizing the town and the contractors and designers involved in the renovation project with one of its Anthemion Awards.

The award will be presented during a ceremony next week in Raleigh. Zebulon is the only town honored this year for its work in preserving a public building.

Turning the iconic former school into a useful public space was a partnership that involved a great many groups, from GlaxoSmithKline, town commissioners and town staff to the Friends of Wakelon and even the voters who were willing to absorb the cost of the building's rehabilitation.

Turning a school into a useful space is not a new idea. In fact other towns have done exactly what Zebulon did and turned a school in their community into a town hall. Other schools have become community centers and private apartments.

But precious few communities have the opportunity to make use of such a facility. Many towns, no doubt, wish they had such an opportunity.

And despite the nearly $2 million price tag, the purchase and renovation of the school was less expensive than building another building of sufficient size as to serve the town's needs for the foreseeable future.

To be sure, the town could never have constructed a building of similar quality for the money the town of Zebulon spent.

Regardless of the dollars involved, the project has preserved an institution that holds a special place in the hearts of a great many people.

An educator speaking at another meeting we attended recently suggested that, next to churches, schools tend to be the most sacred institutions in a community.

Certainly that has proven to be the case in Zebulon, where a grand old building in a town bereft of much great architecture has been preserved for many years to come.

That is what caught the attention of preservationists. And that's as it should be.