Significant progress has been made. The new roof, new interior walls, renovation of the original flooring and window replacement have made major improvements. Work by Blind Eye Restoration greatly improved the windows and doors. One classroom is done. Yet there is still much to do.
However, the Olive Branch School Preservation Society (OBSPS) now finds itself in a dilemma as members retire and there are fewer volunteers to replace them. Funding is increasingly difficult. The group plans to have a realistic discussion about the future of the building at its next meeting July 9.
Olive Branch was fondly nicknamed the “Little Round School” because classrooms were placed around a central common area like the petals of a flower. The two-story rotunda in the middle was crowned with a stunning skylight and framing windows.
The bottom half of the exterior walls was constructed of erratic boulders from nearby fields and glacial moraines. At one time each of the boulders was identified as to the type of metamorphic rock and its origin in Canada.
It is obvious that Olive Branch was never an ordinary school.
Olive Branch was “state of the art” at a time when education was adapting to the demands of a new century and population was growing fast in this area.
The building’s designer, architect Charles Insco Williams (1853-1923), was one of Dayton’s foremost architects and many of his buildings are on the list of historic places as well. Its unique Craftsman-style architecture and design for educational efficiency impresses visitors even today.
For more than 60 years this unique school was at the center of education in Bethel Township. First it was a high school, then the junior high, and finally it housed the art classes for Tecumseh High School until 1972. That was when it was reduced to a storage building, which received little upkeep.
Nearly 20 years ago an enterprising group of alumni decided to save this architectural treasure. The Olive Branch School Preservation Society created an extensive and informative website at olivebranchschool.org. The history of the school district and this particular building are the focus. Memories and historical photos fill out the story.
It is important for members of the community to take some time to look over this website. Olive Branch’s history is so detailed and rich that a quick summary does not do it justice.
The story of its loving restoration speaks of love of history, architecture and community.
The organization had originally hoped that Olive Branch School would become a meeting facility or community center.
The upcoming meeting about the future of this treasure is significant for those who live in Clark County and Bethel Township and for those who treasure architectural design.
“Unfortunately we are looking at a need of MAJOR funding to be able to continue,” said OBSPS President Jim Leathley in a recent email.
“While we do not have a “set” number (there has not been any architectural work done or estimates) it is anticipated that it would take a minimum of $750,000 (or more) to get the building to a state of being a functional “public venue”.
“While we have pursued various grants annually and are most grateful for those that we have been awarded, the funds received have been in the range of $10,000 to $20,000. Given this, completion of the renovations is basically insurmountable.”
It was decided at the organization’s April meeting that OBSPS needed to “give notice” to the community. The community needed to be aware that the organization would likely at its next meeting “be voting to disband, vacate the renovation and return the use of the building back to the school district.”
This important meeting will be on Wednesday July 9, at 4 p.m. in the Arrow Conference Room at Tecumseh High School.
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