History of Grafton School by Patricia A. Tomko...Part 4

August 13, 1935: BONDS   

The $70,000 of bonds voted on during the special election were sold to the State Teachers Retirement System and ere taken to the State Treasurer.  This issue consisted of 70 bonds of $1,000 each, with the interest rate of 4%.

Plans for the new schoold building were rapidly nearing completion and were taken to Columbus where they had to be approved by the Building I(nspection Burear, thestate Health Board and the Public Works Administration.

Advertisements for bids had to be placed in two newspapers of general circulation for four weeks.  The contract was to be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder.

October, 1935:  SPECIAL ACTION 

The board of education received from Washington the government's formal offer to help in the construction of the new school building.  In order to make this offer binding it was necessary for the board to take special action accepting the government aid.  This was done at a special meeting and three copies of the proceedings were sent to the legal division within a few days stating that the documents mentioned above had been examined and were satifactory.

November 12, 1935: PROPERTY PURCHASE 

the board of Education met in special session and voted topurchast the Rust property on Elm Street as the site for the new school.  It consisted of 15 acres and the purchase price was $1,500.

December 5, 1935: CONTRACTS AWARDED

The Grafton Village Board of Education voted to award the contracts for the new school as follows: 

----General Contract to the T. J. Hume Co., Lorain for $90,424

----Steam heating and plumbing to T. O. Murphy Co., Oberlin for $22,008

----Electric to E. C. Reitz, Belleview for $5,640

These contracts were subject to PWA approval.  In order to stay within the budget it was necessary to specify some "alternates" from the original plan.  These changes di not alter the essential form of the building.  They included using a condensation pump instead of a vacuum pump for the boiler, using leg radiation in place of radiator hangers, using some of the equipment, such as slate blackboards, etc. from the present [  Chestnut Street School ]  and other similar substitutions. (Many blackboards--yes black-- are STILL  in the school] 

December 9, 1935: PWA APPROVES

The architect and superintendent of schools took the contract awards and other materials to Columbus for approval. [ can you imagine what that trip was like?] PWA officials approved the awards as well as the "alternates".

 December 11, 1935: Groundbreaking!

Groundbreaking ceremonies took place at the school site on Elm St. The plans called for each board member to participate with a spade in the colors of the high school, purple and gold. These spades will be kept by the board members as a rememberance of the occasion.

History of Grafton School by Patricia A. Tomko ....Part 3

When the plans for the new building were prepared, it was necessary for the architect and the men working under him to work nights and Sundays to get the work done.  Under PWA rules everything had to be ready to go by January 1, so many times these men put in 18 - hour days.

Caldwell was very enthusiastic about the layout of the school.  Efficiency was key.  One teacher standing anywhere in the corridor will see everything that is happening.  He pointed out that the building is planned so that everyone in town can use it.  Basketball games, dances, dinners, and plays can be held in the building, making it a real civic center.

The gym is large enough to be adequate for all purposes.  It will be 70 x 45 feet and 20 feet to the ceiling.  After 9 years of shuttling the basketball teams back and forth they will finally have a gym of their own.  There will be four locker rooms so visiting boyss and girls' teams can be separated from the home teams.

The stage is 21 x 54 feet.  Under the stage there will be additional dressing and shower rooms and a storage place for chairs. Only 2 room will be underground, the boiler room and the coal bin.

Access will be readily available for vehicle repair, as the floor of the manual training room [shop room] will be sufficiently strengthened to accommodate any vehicle needing repair. [A garage door was also available for easy access to the outside]

History of Grafton School by Patricia A Tomko, Part 2

....Continued

Plans were drawn and things were progressing nicely when along came the State board of Education with the recommendation that the plans be scraped and that a new concept be adopted that would not only be a new gym building but an entirely new school. The federal government would pay nearly half the cost, so why not do that instead?

The focus was then directed toward a new school.  Forty-five percent of the cost could be raised from the government, the balance, the responsibility of the taxpayers.  This was a bargain too good to be overlooked and would give Grafton the new school that was so badly needed.

So it was more plans, with the accompanying red tape.  There were no precedents to follow, no one to point the way.  The endless government forms were a huge hurdle that had to be overcome before they would be granted the money.

Finally that was completed and the matter was submitted to the voters who approved, resulting in a seventy-three percent (73%) favorable vote. [Wow a school levy that passed by 735 !]

Walter G. Caldwell, Cleveland, was the architect chosen for this project and he stated that getting bids was more difficult at this time than any other in the 21 years of his experience.  "The depression had driven some contractors out of business, others had their financial standings so weakened that they were unable to furnish the bond required, while the balance of them were busy figuring other Public Works Administration projects."

Every contractor who had ever worked on public building in Cuyahoga, Medina, and Lorain counties were contacted for bids, the architect explained.

His previous experience included drawing plans and specifications for school work at Clearview, Vincent and Elyria Township.

.......to be continued

History of Grafton School by Patricia A. Tomko Part 1

Source: The Grafton Citizen
When the Grafton children returned from summer vacation in 1936 they attended a new school on Elm Street. "What a day it was for them.  Of course everything was strange on the first day, it nearly always is on the first day of any school year, but this year, the paths of the children led into a new direction and added to the strangeness of a new school year was the strangeness that a new school building presents". 

Several years prior to 1936, dreams of a new school were considered by various residents at different times, but those dreams were abandoned because the old school [on Chestnut Street] was out of debt.

The building on Chestnut Street was described as crowded, a firetrap, and inadequate, including the fact that there wasw no gymnasium.

Over the years it became obvious that athletics was an important part of the curriculum and providing a gym was a necessity [besides the basketball team was begining to be a powerhouse].

Records show that a payment of $36 was paid to Belden School to rent their gymnasium for the basketball team.  This payment was authorized December 29, 1927, but then the following year the Grafton Village Board of Education voted to cooperate with the team and rented the Eaton gym for both practice and games.  The girls also used the facility.

Finally a new idea was proposed.  Why not just build a gym building that could later be used as the first unit of a new school building? Perhaps this was something that could be accomplished.

Government aid in financing the plan was sought and after the usual amount of red tape the matter was approved and the voters were asked  to give their approval. They did on November 6, 1934, and since the project was only 60% funded, the usual 65% of the vote was not needed and it looked like Grafton was to have a new gymnasium building.

......to be continued

The journey begins!

"Every journey begins with a single step" 
            ...........and thus the journey begins! 


                             


In the days to come we will chronicle the journey of the Grafton School from this vacant building to thriving community member once again as envisioned by the 1930's Village of Grafton.

Elm St. Studios, LLC purchased the Historic Grafton School located in the Village of Grafton, Ohio, December 23, 2015.  Listed on the National Register of Historic places (#08000117) this iconic building has been vacant since 2006 when the k-2 grades were moved to a more centrally located campus housing all of the students from the Midview School District.