SPRINGVILLE - Painted above the threshold of the second floor stairway of Schwab Hall was the word 'immortality.”
'I had first and second grade in this building, band and (choir) ... I get very nostalgic,” said Karen Taylor, 71, of Springville, while gazing over a room filled with broken desks, rubble and old art tools. 'Oh gosh. Memories, memories.”
Schwab Hall opened in 1916 and closed in early 2011. In addition to elementary through high school classes, it hosted basketball games and music practices for the Springville Community School District.
The building has recently been used for storage and is being razed to make way for a new elementary school. A $4.7 million bond passed in February will pay for the construction.
Taylor, who graduated from Springville High School in 1962, is the historian for the Springville Area Historical Society. On Saturday, the group hosted a 'Goodbye to Our Old School” memorial outside Schwab Hall, which is connected to the northeast end of the high school at 400 Academy St.
Taylor said the event gave those who attended classes in the red brick building the chance to exchange stories.
'In first grade, there was a girl who swiped my pencil. Her grandpa was an insurance agent in town, and of course, he gave out pencils that had his business printed on it ... and I had one, and she comes up to me and said, ‘That pencil's my pencil. It has my grandpa's name on it,' and she took it,” Taylor said, laughing. 'Funny how you remember silly things like that.”
Schwab Hall was named after Roy T. Schwab, a longtime Springville band director who worked at the building for 34 years before retiring in 1964.
'He was the disciplinarian for the whole school. He wasn't harsh or anything,” said Taylor, who played the oboe in his class. 'He just expected the best. Those were good memories - long ago.”
The demolition is costing the school district $68,000, according to Springville Superintendent Pat Hocking.
The process to build the new elementary school at the site will begin in mid- to late summer. It will included nine classrooms, a multipurpose space, office space and a secure entrance.
Hocking said the construction will 'hopefully” be completed by the fall of 2017.
Historian Karen Taylor walks through what once was the band room at Schwab Hall at Springville High School in Springville, Iowa, on Wednesday, May 18, 2016. The room was originally the gymnasium. The building, completed in the spring of 1916, will be razed to make way for the new elementary school. The building was named after longtime band director Roy T. Schwab. The building housed a gymnasium on the second floor, which became the band room in 1939. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
The name plate near the door to Schwab Hall at Springville High School in Springville, Iowa, on Wednesday, May 18, 2016. The building, completed in the spring of 1916, will be razed to make way for the new elementary school. The building was named after longtime band director Roy T. Schwab. The building housed a gymnasium on the second floor, which became the band room in 1939. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Schwab Hall at Springville High School in Springville, Iowa, on Wednesday, May 18, 2016. The building, completed in the spring of 1916, will be razed to make way for the new elementary school. The building was named after longtime band director Roy T. Schwab. The building housed a gymnasium on the second floor, which became the band room in 1939. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
A historic photo showing Schwab Hall on the right next to the former Springville High School on the left in Springville, Iowa, on Wednesday, May 18, 2016. The building, completed in the spring of 1916, will be razed to make way for the new elementary school. The building was named after longtime band director Roy T. Schwab. The building housed a gymnasium on the second floor, which became the band room in 1939. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
A photo of Roy T. Schwab which Schwab Hall is named after at Springville High School in Springville, Iowa, on Wednesday, May 18, 2016. The building, completed in the spring of 1916, will be razed to make way for the new elementary school. The building was named after longtime band director Roy T. Schwab. The building housed a gymnasium on the second floor, which became the band room in 1939. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)