Former schools take on new life in Putnam County |
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Written by MICHAEL HOHENBRINK, Special to the Chronicle
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Thursday, 01 May 2008 19:00 |
GLANDORF—It’s served generations of the community’s students, but a move to modernize district buildings will soon see changes to Glandorf Elementary School as the district looks to construct a new building.
Still, it won’t mean the end for the old school as a unique plan may bring new life to the building.
The district and Glandorf St. John the Baptist are in talks whereby the parish would become sole owner of the school located directly south of the church and right next to it on Main Street in Glandorf.
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Glandorf Elementary, one of two elementaries in use in the
Ottawa-Glandorf School District, may close, making it available to
Glandorf St. John the Baptist Parish. (Chronicle photo by Michael
Hohenbrink) |
In exchange, the district would receive approximately seven acres of church-owned land north and east of the school, behind the church, near existing ball fields, and directly across the street from the old Glandorf convent. Here the district could build a new elementary school.
Precious Blood Father Harry Brown, pastor of St. John the Baptist, says the parish currently owns 60 percent of the elementary. The district owns the other 40 percent.
Fr. Brown explains the arrangement came about in the late 1940s when the public school district was experiencing financial difficulties. The parish saw the school district as another bedrock institution in the community and stepped in as a ‘Good Samaritan’ to help.
According to parish records, the church constructed the school building in 1948. In the shared building public education is the order of the day; as part owner, the parish uses part of the building in the evenings and weekends for church sponsored events such as Hearthstone Youth Group gatherings.
Now, 60 years later, financial difficulties again call for a solution.
It’s an experience common in many places. Declining enrollment and an aging infrastructure have the Ottawa-Glandorf (O-G) district seeing red ink in the near future unless the district adapts.
“O-G’s declining enrollment is a fact,” says O-G Superintendent Kevin Brinkman. “We’ve cut staff every year for the last four years,” he adds.
To prevent deficit spending, the district hopes to run a leaner operation, thanks in part to the staff reductions, but also with the help of new buildings, which would be more efficient to operate. The district believes state funding for new buildings, through the Ohio School Facilities Commission, could be coming at any time.
“We are very, very close to being called,” says Mr. Brinkman, who hopes the notification comes by late May.
Both sides win
It’s a win-win situation for both the district and the parish, both district and parish officials say. With the proposed swap, the district receives church land, gaining a central location in downtown Glandorf for a new school. The parish receives 100 percent ownership of the existing school building and additional space.
In return for the district’s share of the building, the parish would trade land it owns.
“In the swap, whatever [land] they need, that would be [traded] for the 40 percent,” says Fr. Brown.
Most of the existing school structure would be saved, though Fr. Brown says the parish would look to see if a portion was in need of demolition.
Fr. Brown says the parish would use the space for “all kinds of purposes.” The gym would serve as space for CYO games and the cafeteria could be used for wedding and funeral receptions. Christmas programs, scouting events and lectures could also take place there.
“Before, we never had anything like that,” says Fr. Brown. He says the parish could also rent the building for use by the community for graduations or other needs.
“We’ll use it a lot,” predicts Fr. Brown.
Ottoville’s experience
It’s an arrangement similar to that in place in Ottoville. There, the construction of a new public school in 2003 left the school district with an old school building it no longer needed or wanted. Even so, it seemed a waste to doom the old school building to a wrecking ball.
Ottoville Immaculate Conception, which sits next to the former school, proved a willing partner along with the Village of Ottoville, in helping the district come up with a solution.
“We use it [the old public school building] for junior and senior high CCD,” says Father John Stites, pastor of Immaculate Conception.
The former school is also the site of events including wedding receptions and funeral dinners, as well as providing offices, maintenance space and a home to a parish museum that opened last summer.
Fr. Stites says he is very happy with the arrangement in which about 30 percent of the old school is used by the village and the other approximately 70 percent is owned by the parish.
“If we didn’t have that, we wouldn’t have any place to do any of those things,” says Fr. Stites. “Or parking.”
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Last Updated on Monday, 22 September 2008 09:12 |
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