Far be it for me to be sad that all of those construction workers (and attendant trades) are going to be working. But really, is this necessary? Knocking down and rebuilding every school from scratch? I can see upgrading, building on, even wiping out a wing here and there and starting over. But this screams of overkill. My mom went to school in the 1950s and 60s. Her school still stands, and is a full campus of buildings, all quite lovely.
Whitehall's schools can't claim to be lovely. The town was incorporated after World War II, and much of the town is evidence of that. The Victorian redo of a section of town to make sort of a faux "Main Street" (but not on Main Street, it's on Yearling Road) looks ridiculous. But the alumni that have travelled the halls of Etna Road Elementary, Beechwood Elementary, Kae Avenue Elementary, Rosemore Junior High School and Whitehall-Yearling High School are having their history wiped out. "Heaven guard and keep you, we shall never fail you, dear Whitehall-Yearling High!" Well, I guess we failed. Unless you believe in reincarnation.
[Excerpt]
Whitehall students can see the future as new schools go up
The first day of school is always full of change. There are new pencils, new books, new teachers and new homework to grumble over.
Whitehall students start class today, earlier than others, and they'll encounter something else new - construction. . .
Read more at: The Columbus Dispatch
My dad and my aunts and uncles went to Whitehall-Yearling HS, too, so graduates from the last 50+ years will lose something that was a big part of our best memories. Very sad.
ReplyDeleteJamie, thanks for telling me of the tear down of our old school. I was just there two weeks ago and did not hear about it. My family has lived in Whitehall since WWII, even before there was a town of Whitehall. All I can hope is that this will start a revitalization of Whitehall, it is starting to feel like innercity there.
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