No go on restoring Pleasant Ridge School

Results from an engineering feasibility study has halted plans to restore the historic Pleasant Ridge School.

The study was commissioned by Cemetery District 1, which acquired the school and its surrounding acreage in 2017 from owners who had held it for about 50 years. The District wanted more acreage and hoped to turn the much-beloved schoolhouse into a meeting place for memorial services and other community events.

After decades of neglect, including long years of service as a storage shed for lawnmower repair, the schoolhouse was in rough condition. The District removed trash from the premises, secured windows and doors with plywood, had the septic system for the property’s rental house inspected and repaired, and removed dead and dying maple trees along Valentine Road.

Evaluating the condition of the building was the next step in the District’s plan to rescue and repurpose the long-abandoned school. The feasibility study would help accurately estimate the cost and scope of the work required.

Instead, West Coast Engineers determined that the core of the building, its foundation, structural flooring and walls “are just too far gone to support anything other than demolition,” said Lori Buher, Cemetery District secretary. “It’s very disappointing to everyone.”

Community members had tried to acquire the school since the 1970s. School alumni concerned about its decay organized the Pleasant Ridge School Association, paid to replace the roof and offered to buy the property – but were repeatedly rebuffed by the longtime owner.

The Association transferred its remaining funds to the Cemetery District once the purchase was complete. Since May 2019, descendants of school alumni and Pleasant Ridge neighbors have contributed about $12,000 towards renovation.

The Cemetery District is refunding unspent donations.

“Our schoolhouse is something that I had hoped could be saved,” said Chris Barnes, who attended some of the Association meetings back in the 1970s. Her great-great aunt Nellie Cornelius taught at Pleasant Ridge School, where her grandfather Philip Cornelius and his four siblings were students. “The loss of it saddens me.”

If the District were to move ahead with the restoration, more than $500,000 might be needed to rebuild the school from the ground up. “That’s a tall order,” said Commissioner Rick Anderson. “We weren’t sure we could do it, and as Commissioners of a public cemetery district, would not want to move forward without an enthusiastic mandate from the taxpayers.”

According to Commissioner Curt Buher, the 1970s roof is the reason the schoolhouse is still standing. Moisture under the building is the reason it cannot be saved.

“When the engineers did their assessment, we could see a river of water underneath the building,” he said. “With no heat and no vapor barrier, 80 years of moisture from underneath has damaged everything.”

Buher and fellow commissioners Tim Goodman and Anderson have no plans to sell the property. Monthly income from the rental house covers the cost of the property, and it provides a better return than leaving funds in a low-yield County-managed certificate of deposit.

Holding onto the property also allows other possibilities to emerge.

“Although the actual structure cannot be saved, this should not limit us in creating a way to save the spirit of the school,” said Goodman. He says the District is open to ideas that could memorialize the school, ranging from signage to a smaller replica, and would love to hear from fans of the school.

“If there is a way we can proceed with the schoolhouse, I would prefer not to get my donation back,” said Barnes. “I can’t believe it would cost all that much if people helped. Remember the days when neighbors got together and helped one another build barns?”

Contact any of the commissioners through the cemetery website, pleasantridgecemetery.com.

Basye is a member of the Pleasant Ridge School fundraising committee.