Green Springs alumi
School slated
for demolition
next summer
By MICHELLE
OLMSTEAD
Enterprise Intern
clydenews@bizwoh.rr.com
On June 20, Green Springs School alumni were invited to tour the elementary building for the last time before the annual association meeting, as the building that once served as the hub for its own school district will be demolished next summer.
It will be replaced by a brand-new facility, which is currently under construction in an adjacent lot.
From 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., former graduates of Green Spring High School gathered in the hallways, visiting old classmates, and saying their final good-byes to the school they once loved. The Green Springs district consolidated with Clyde in 1968.
Albert Cook, a 1944 graduate, remembers when the building was first opened in 1937 -- back when it held grades first through twelfth for the Green Springs school district only.
While construction for the soon-to-be demolished building was underway, Cook and his classmates were scattered among offices in town. Temporary classrooms were created, according to Cook, in buildings such as Town Hall, the telephone office, and the public library.
Another memory about the school sticks out vividly in his mind. On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked, while Cook was in class. Much like students in school on Sept. 11, 2001, he remembers exactly where he was when the disaster took place.
"We all went into the study hall," he remembered. "Of course there were no televisions then, so we all had the radio on."
Karl and Betty Havens were also touring the building on Saturday afternoon. Both are graduates of the class of 1954.
Although husband and wife now, they had not always gotten along so well. When asked if the pair were high school sweethearts, Betty laughed and replied, "No, we aggravated each other!"
Betty, along with many other visitors, wondered why the school was fated to be torn down in the first place.
"Is it really in that bad of condition?" she asked.
The Ohio School Facilities Commission determined that the current Green Springs Elementary like Vine Street School and McPherson Middle School were all too expensive to renovate compared to the construction of new buildings, according to an OSFC report. The OSFC offered to fund two-thirds of a $56 million school building project for two new buildings (including a Green Springs School and a middle school) and two renovated buildings (the high school and South Main School). Local voters passed a 1-percent income tax to pay the local share of the massive projects and buildings are slated to open for the 2010-11 school year.
During the tour on June 20 at Green Springs, a popular destination was on the second floor of the elementary building, where former students could see their class portraits hanging on the walls.
Two long-time friends from high school were found visiting this area of the building -- Carol (Welling) Rawson and Nancy (Leffler) Brown, who both graduated in 1956.
"It's really sad to see that it's going to be torn down," said Rawson. "The building itself doesn't look that bad.
"Everything seems so much smaller," she added.
"An6d I don't know why; we're not that much bigger," Brown chimed in. "But the floor, I mean, that's just déjà vu."
One of the younger visitors present was Faron Headrick, an alum of the Class of 1990.
"I was a member of the last eighth grade class that went here, before they did the reorganization back in '85," he mentioned.
Although Clyde and Green Springs districts merged in 1968, the Green Springs junior high students were not shifted to Clyde Junior High School until 1986.
The school board also shifted all school district fifth and sixth graders to the Green Springs Elementary building.
"The school seemed a log bigger when I went here," said Headrick, echoing a reoccurring sentiment of the open house. "I'm surprised to see that my first grade teacher is still teaching." Although the building will inevitably be gone, it is clear the memories and good times shared at Green Springs Elementary will not soon be forgotten.
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