![]() "I know as soon as Dover Hill school opened and this was left alone, the neighborhood started bringing dogs over here. "It would be a place for us to gather, a place for us to have our community events that the North Heights Neighborhood Group has worked so hard to put on," Sargent said. The North Heights Neighborhood Association in 2022 formed a committee to raise money and talk to the school district about saving the school property as a public space. It's been that way for 100 years, and I would just really like it to stay that way." This is just such an anchor for the neighborhood. We are really crossing our fingers hoping that happens. "I'm on the committee to try to get the school district to give it to the North Heights Neighborhood group for a park. "The school played a role in the entire neighborhood," Sargent said. The elementary school was already a centerpiece to the neighborhood."Ĭhristina Sargent, 32, brought her son, Theodore, 3, to see the demolition. I don't know if it will be a park or some other use, but I'm looking forward to seeing what the city does with the land. I'm excited to see what will be done with the land. "I have plenty of memories from being here. "It is sad to see the school torn down," he said. Samuel Thompson, 31, a former student at Columbia, said he was out for a walk and saw the construction equipment at work. Sachetta said the goal is to have the land cleared by the end of August. ![]() The safe room on the west side of the school will also be torn down, but it will take a little longer than the demolition of the original school. The city of Joplin gave much of Dover Hill Park to the district for the construction of the new school, and in a memorandum of understanding with the city, the district agreed to demolish Columbia school by the end of 2023. In 2020, voters approved a $25 million bond issue that paid for the construction of the new Dover Hill Elementary to replace Columbia and West Central Elementary School, a building on west Seventh Street that was almost as old as Columbia. Engineers said the safe room and west side of the building seemed to be settling because of undermining and poor soil conditions at the location. The three-story, brick school was expanded a few times, but the construction of a tornado safe room in 2016 revealed a problem that could not be overcome.Ĭracks started appearing in the wall of the safe room and other rooms on the west side of the school after the safe room was finished. Generations of children walked or rode their bikes to school, and groups held meetings and events in the school after the students went home for the day. ![]() F St., was built in 1927 and spent almost a century as a center of the North Heights neighborhood. Kerry Sachetta, superintendent of the Joplin School District, said Moates Excavating, of Riverton, Kansas, would likely complete tearing down the old school by the end of the week.Ĭolumbia Elementary School, at 610 W. I understand what's going on, but at the same time it's got a place in my life." It was fine when I was in grade school, but I know they expect something different these days. "The new school (Dover Hill Elementary) looks great, though. ![]() "Sentimentally, I'm sorry they're tearing it down," Spracklen said. Steve Spracklen, 72, was a Columbia student in the 1950s, and he experienced emotional swings while watching. Former students from years ago drove by and stopped to watch for a few minutes. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |