One Way or Another, It'll Cost Us.

Disclaimer:  everything contained in this blog is MY OPINION.  Every attempt is made to present the truth through actual facts or to identify statements which are in doubt; otherwise there will be no deliberate presentation of gossip, rumor, or innuendo which can't be proven as factual


There appear to be plans afoot to tear down the old First Ward building.
The fate of that building is typical of Electra:  when something is deemed to be 'old-fashioned,' make no attempt to find alternate uses;  ignore the waste, and walk off and leave it to rot.
That has happened to so many of our historic buildings.
Worse still, in the late 1980s school records of students dating back to at least the 1930s were stacked and piled in the old fifth grade classroom. I found mine from the '40s and asked for them, and was refused.
What was the point of that?  Where are those records now?
At one time there was an attempt made to turn the building into a museum. Many people donated historic mementoes thinking they would be preserved for posterity. The last time I saw them, they were in the old second grade classroom and still in good shape.
However, back then, (25 years ago) the beautiful hardwood floors hadn't warped up and splintered, nor were the windows broken out, and fragile things could be safely housed there. No one seems to know where these relics are now or what's happened to them;  another loss of a piece of the town's heritage.
The condition of that building is a continuing disgrace, particularly when, if the rest of us have broken windows or junky yards, we are apt to get a notice from Codes Enforcement.  How come the school district has  managed to escape that?
Now that the building has been neglected to death, it's probably time to demolish it.
So here's a question or two.
Since authorities in Electra adamantly refuse to consider architectural  recovery, are the bricks going to be sold at a ridiculously low price? Or maybe just thrown out along with everything else in the building?
I mean, there's enough old bricks in First Ward that if they're sold at the going rate, the school district would have enough money that they could buy more houses for school officials without having to spend our tax money for them.
Where will administration have its offices?
Well, we probably already know the answer to that, and it's going to cost us.
Where will the garages for the school buses be?
No doubt that will also cost us.
What will happen to the property?
Most likely the neglect will continue and we'll have a breeding ground for snakes, spiders, and rats and a dandy place for kids to hide and smoke weed-and it'll cost us.

Anita Huguelet McMurtrie