Options are many on future uses for Central Elementary

Construction of a new pre-K through fifth grade school in Holton is under way that will combine both the Central and Colorado Elementary Schools. When the new school opens in the fall of 2016, Central will be vacated by students and could be used by the community in a variety of ways.

Holton Superintendent Dennis Stones reported recently that members of the board of education have not yet determined what to do with the Central building, which is located in the 400 block of New Jersey Avenue, once the new school is complete.

Built in 1955, Central Elementary School was initially 17,000-square feet and included seven classrooms plus a kindergarten room, offices, a multi-purpose room, a kitchen, a teachers’ lounge, office space, a clinic and a boiler room. The school was expanded over the years and now includes 13 classrooms, including two special education rooms and two preschool rooms.

According to county records, the building and the land are valued at $1,186,350.

Last year, when a special bond election was held to fund a new pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade school, former Holton Superintendent Nancy Meyer suggested that Central could be used as the new district office with a larger conference room. The building could also be used to house the Holton Special Education Cooperative or the Fresh Start Adult Education Center.

Like many vacated schools throughout the state and country, the building could also be sold or demolished. Many communities throughout Kansas have found different ways to repurpose vacated schools.

Eudora in Douglas County built a new elementary school in 2009 for students in first through fifth grades, which vacated two smaller schools in the district, Nottingham Primary and Eudora West Elementary.

The district sold Nottingham and surrounding property to developers last year for new housing and commercial development. 

West Elementary is currently home to the Eudora Community Learning Center, the district’s IT department and a Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center satellite office. A portion of the building is also leased to the Southeast Kansas Educational Service Center.

While the vacated buildings for Holton and Eudora are the result of new construction projects, many rural communities have empty school buildings due to consolidations and budget cuts.

The school in Hanston, a small town in Hodgeman County, closed in 2010, but the old classrooms are now filled will entrepreneurs who are in need of office space.

Last spring it was reported that the building was home to a hay dispatching business, a National Ident-A-Kid satellite office, a photography studio, a seed company and a preschool.

Great Plains Manufacturing of Salina renovated school buildings in Kipp, Assaria and Tipton into manufacturing and research facilities.

Schools throughout the state and the country have been transformed into recreation centers, homeless shelters, churches, movie theaters and offices for substance abuse programs.

In Harveyville in Wabaunsee County, two former schools have been renovated into a creative workshop and retreat for artists. Retreats and workshops are held at the schools throughout the year, with special emphasis on yarn and felt artists. Workshops on making cheese and home beer have also been held or are being planned.

In 2012, Kansas City Public Schools started a repurposing initiative to sell or demolish its 30 vacated schools in the region. Since then, the district has sold nine schools, leased one with an option to purchase, demolished two and have determined to keep two for district use.

Of the nine sold, three are being used as classroom space for charter schools, one is being developed as affordable senior citizens housing and the additional properties are being developed for commercial or residential use.

Residents and developers in larger cities are finding more creative ways to reuse vacant school buildings. Cities, such as Detroit and Baltimore, have rented out space in former school buildings as studio space for artists. Other cities have turned whole school buildings into art museums or libraries.

On the west coast, McMenamins, a hospitality group, has converted two schools, one in Portland and one in Bend, Ore., as boutique hotels. Each classroom has been converted into a guest room where guests are allowed to “fall asleep in class.”

Whatever Holton USD 336 board members decide to do with Central Elementary School, it’s apparent that the building could still serve as an important space for the community.