The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Group weighing options for school preservation
With planning for the construction of Firelands Local School District’s newest high school in progress, a group of community members have donated time to research viable grant options to preserve the old South Amherst Middle School, 152 W. Main St. in South Amherst.
Crews are building the new Firelands High School on the same campus as the old one at 10643 Vermilion Road in Henrietta Township, resulting in the current high school becoming the middle school and Board of Education office.
In November, voters approved a levy that will make the construction possible, said Superintendent Mike Von Gunten.
The new school will leave the current middle school, dating back to 1910, vacant, Von Gunten said.
In an effort to reutilize the old school for a new purpose, a team of 11 volunteers named Team Preserve to Advance the Future has donated over 300 hours worth of research and analysis to compile a report of what may be able to be done for the building.
One volunteer James Slack of Hoover, Ala., who grew up in South Amherst and graduated from the High School in 1971, said the report lays out 23 possible centers and projects for the building, referred to in the report as The Center for Exceptional Opportunities in the Firelands Area.
Additionally, the report identifies 40 grant opportunities, eight real estate development alternatives, nine tax credit options, 29 technical assistance resources, 20 in-kind grant possibilities and two financial gift sources.
“The school has educated a lot of people,” said Slack, adding that his greatgrandfather Isaac Slack was one of the original school board members. “It’s an icon of the village. Take that building away, then you really do have an issue.”
The report
Slack said the volunteer group, which is remaining anonymous, is compiled of either graduates or educators who have been in the Firelands and South Amherst community, comprised of business managers, teachers and governance specialists.
Some reside as far out as the west coast.
Slack said the team of volunteers was created after he and Von Gunten had early conversations about the preservation of the building after the levy funding the new Firelands High School was passed in 2018.
“Preserving the building for the sake of preserving the building is not the road to take,” Slack said. “It’s about what you’re going to do with the building afterwards.”
He said one of the most important aspects of the report was identifying a problem in the area that could be fixed by the building’s restoration in order to improve success of grant applications.
“Most grant funders won’t look at the bottom line,” Slack said. “They want to know if they can buy into a problem, and if the project will benefit it.”
That problem identified in the report is rural population dispersion and rural under privilege, particularly with children.
About one third of the district’s students come from economically-challenged homes with 24 percent depending on the free lunch program, according to the report.
Uses for the school are divvied up between certain portions of the building listed in the report, including a public library, sandstone museum or family farm assistance program in the administration building and a center of fine arts, senior citizen center or local government leadership training program in the historic building, to name a few.
A child day care and night care facility, job training center or a rural health care and health-learning center in the 1957 addition and rural low-income housing, summer athletic programs or farm animal center for the property around the buildings adjacent to North Lake Street also were recommended.
Pathways for funding, including through state, federal and private entities, are listed in the report.
First steps include discussions on proposals, working with stakeholders and developing strategies for receiving grants to continue with the project, which may involve hiring interns for grant writing.
Slack said the report originally was sent out in March, then again in May, to members of the district, South Amherst and Kipton mayors, Camden, Florence and Henrietta Township trustees and Brownhelm and South Amherst historical societies.
As of July 30, the volunteer team has not heard back about the reception and next steps concerning the report and project.
Although Slack said the report was made with no criticism intended to either the village or district, he feared that politics from the merger of South Amherst and Firelands schools over 30 years ago are affecting the decision made on the building.
It takes a village
Von Gunten and South Amherst Mayor Dave Leshinski said they received the report and applauded the efforts of the volunteer team.
Leshinski said the village had not yet responded to the report due to “waiting for community members to reach out to each other to bring to fruition.”
He said what happens to the building ultimately is up to the district, who had also had discussions with South Amherst Historical Society about eight or nine months ago about auctioning off the school.
“I know there’s some people who are emotionally attached to the building,” Leshinksi said.
Although Leshinski said some projects may prove more difficult than others, those proposed in the report could be manageable if the community backs them.
“If you get a little tenacious and creative, you can overcome most obstacles,” he said. “I never want to say anything’s impossible.”
As far as politics are involved in any future decisions, Leshinski said “it’s really hard to gauge that.”
Von Gunten said the district is focusing on breaking ground with the new High School and has not fully weighed out the options for the old middle school.
“The work that was done (on the report) will help for whatever will happen in the future,” he said.
Von Gunten said although the district didn’t see renovations possible for the building from an educational standpoint, he said an alternative purpose for the building may better serve in its preservation.
“The major challenge with that is its age,” he said.
Another option for the district is to demolish the building, with the levy able to contribute the total $800,000 needed for its demolition.
Von Gunten said the school board is planning to make a decision on the disposal of the property in the next 12 to 18 months.