What are some of the oldest schools in area?
New buildings usually receive the attention and fanfare of the community, but some Greater Columbus school buildings have been around for more than 100 years, with some dating back to the 1800s.
These older buildings have undergone numerous renovations over the years and many have housed different grade levels of students along the way.
The schools have withstood the test of time, but keeping them functioning comes with its own set of challenges. Some districts have put measures on the ballot to build replacement buildings, but many have had to get creative when voters turn them down, worrying about their future long-term.
“Schools that hold the memories of generations are disappearing,” the National Trust for Historic Preservation said a 2002 report. “Handsome school buildings – landmarks that inspire community pride – are being discarded for plain, nondescript boxes that resemble factories.”
Columbus
Stewart Alternative Elementary School opened in 1874 in German Village next to Schiller Park, during President Ulysses S. Grant’s presidency. An addition to the school was built in 1925 and the building underwent a facilities master plan renovation in 2014.
“(Stewart) has beautiful windows that gives a really nice view out to the neighborhood,” said Alex Trevino, director of capital improvement for Columbus City Schools. “It really is one of those buildings that is right in the middle of a historic neighborhood.”
The school has air conditioning, new windows, a new roof, an elevator, and the school is handicap accessible, Trevino said. The district has no plans to vacate the 147-year-old structure, he said.
“The removal of a longstanding, community-centered school can dishearten an older neighborhood,” according to the report from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Finding equipment and parts for a building as old as Stewart can be tough, said Dejuan Hood, the district’s buildings and grounds director.
“The original manufacturing parts are no longer available, so sourcing parts can be a challenge for us,” he said.
Lakewood (Licking County)
Hebron Elementary School in Lakewood Local Schools opened in 1915, shortly after the start of the First World War.
The initial cost to build Hebron Elementary was $40,000, said Mark Gleichauf, superintendent of Lakewood Local Schools. When adjusted for inflation, the school would cost $1,086,376.24, still cheap when compared to newer schools recently built such as Gahanna Jefferson’s new Lincoln Elementary School, which cost $23.6 million and opened this fall.
Over the years, the school has served different grade levels. It originally housed grades 1-12, then K-3, later prek-2 and finally K-2, which are the grades it currently serves.
The 106-year-old school faces some challenges. For instance, the school is not ADA accessible, it doesn’t have any air conditioning and it can be difficult to control the heat, Gleichauf said.
“The second floor gets excessively hot because it just doesn’t have great ventilation, so sometimes it can get really warm and that’s not conducive to good learning,” he said.
The district has tried to pass five bond issues over the past four years to build a new elementary school, but they all failed, Gleichauf said.
“It’s just not conducive to the teaching and learning that we want to do in the 21st century,” he said. “It takes a lot of money to maintain it and some things just break.”
The district plans to vacate Hebron Elementary for the 2023-24 school year and move the K-2 students to Jackson Intermediate School, Gleichauf said. The plan is for Jackson Intermediate to house preschoolers through fifth graders two school years from now.
Reynoldsburg
Hannah Ashton Middle School was built in 1868, the same year President Andrew Johnson was acquitted during his impeachment trial.
The school’s namesake, aspiring teacher Hannah Ashton, graduated in 1920 from Reynoldsburg High School. Ashton was hired by the Reynoldsburg schools in 1928 and taught for 12 years in the district before becoming principal. She died in 2000 at the age of 99. The middle school was named in her honor in 1982, according to the district.
Reynoldsburg schools asked voters in November to approve an issue on the ballot that would have built a replacement for the 153-year-old school, but it failed 3,437-3,224.
The measure was a combined, 4.9mill tax increase that included a 37-year bond issue to raise $3.5 million annually to fund building construction, and a continuing permanent improvement levy to raise $895,600 annually.
“The failure of this issue means we must continue repairing Hannah Ashton Middle School, which directly affects the amount of dollars we are able to spend on students and their education,” district spokeswoman Valerie Wunder said in an emailed statement.
Hannah Ashton Middle School needs
at least $18 million worth of repairs, including a new roof, façade work, and plumbing and electrical system fixes, according to district officials. The school has been renovated many times since 1925 and is being used far beyond its life expectancy.
“We have a whole slew of things wrong with this building,” Chris Reed, the district’s executive director of business, told parents and others at a town hall meeting this year.
There’s no women’s restroom on the third floor. Water infiltration has been a major issue and water damage has made some classrooms unusable. There’s also a portion of the exterior wall that’s visible inside the school due to erosion.
Westerville
Emerson Elementary School opened in 1896, the same year that Republican
William Mckinley won the presidential election.
“I think it’s amazing that the school is still in use,” said Nina Thomas, manager of the Westerville History Center Museum. “Having a school that old that has that much history that’s still around, that students are still going to I think is really remarkable.”
When Emerson opened, students rode to schools on horses. The school didn’t have indoor plumbing back then, so the students would walk to the well to get water and the boys would carry the buckets back up.
“Just imagine going to school in the 1890s and how much more complicated it was because of all the different facets of life at the time,” Thomas said.
The school has closed twice in its 125year-old history, Thomas said. In 1952, the school shuttered for a year and reopened in 1953 as a junior high school. The school closed again in 1976 and reopened two years later as an elementary school again.
In 1975, Emerson was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Emerson originally housed all grade levels until the high school opened in 1923. It currently serves kindergarten through fifth grade.
The district is set to begin about $1.3 million in renovations to the school next year, district spokesman Greg Viebranz said in an email. The renovations include a new HVAC system, furniture and interior finishes such as flooring.
mhenry@dispatch.com @megankhenry