Tarnished memories: Old schools are becoming blights on rural Iowa communities

ARLINGTON - A crumbling brick schoolhouse - once this community's pride, now its preeminent blight - could soon be dismantled with the aid of a $200,000 federal brownfield cleanup grant.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency earlier this month announced the grant - the largest allocated for the cleanup of a contaminated former Iowa school, according to Mel Pins, brownstone coordinator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

The Arlington hulk, built in 1920 and operated as a school through the early 1980s, has deteriorated well beyond repair.

“The windows are broken. The gym roof is open to the sky. The gym floor has caved in. It's filled with trash. Creatures live there. It is an eyesore and a hazard,” said Ronette Carnall, a member of the Arlington City Council, which has been working for two years to clear the site for a planned community center.

Pins said there is an “old school syndrome” plaguing many rural communities.

With declining enrollments and school district consolidations, buildings sit empty and fall apart, he said.

In many cases, school districts sell the buildings for little or nothing to private owners who find they can't afford to maintain them.

The owners quit paying taxes, and eventually the towns are staring at dangerous eyesores, said Pins, who estimates Iowa has at least 50 unused school buildings.

Pins said dilapidated schools are an affront to the fond memories of former students.

In Arlington, said Carnall, “people who have not seen the old school for a while are aghast.”

In addition to the EPA grant, Arlington, population 480, had earlier secured a $50,000 grant from the Iowa Department of Economic Development Brownfield Program.

The EPA grant is not for demolition but for the cleanup of hazardous substances, primarily asbestos, said Pins, who defines brownstone as “a site where hazardous substances hinder reuse or redevelopment.”

Asbestos, once commonly used as building insulation, can cause cancer and respiratory ailments when people inhale airborne particles.

Pins said Arlington's grant application was favorably received because the community has concrete plans to reuse the site, as exemplified by a $200,000 matching grant for construction of the planned community center.

“We are going to have to raise more money through a local capital campaign to complete the demolition and fund the community center,” said Carnall, who expressed confidence that the effort would succeed.

Another forsaken former school worries officials in the Delaware County town of Dundee.

The building, which recently went up for sale because of unpaid taxes, is “a real eyesore and health hazard,” said Mayor Barbara Robinson.

“We would like to have it taken down before someone gets hurt,” she said.

Pins said one of the best solutions is to put old school buildings to productive use.

A prime example is the old school in Brandon, which for the past 39 years has been profitably used as a factory and foundry by Denton Castings, which employs 19 full-time workers, according to Vice President Mike Denton.

The former school's spacious gymnasium serves as the foundry where workers pour molten aluminum and brass into molds.

“We put a steel roof on a portion of the building, but overall maintenance has been reasonable,” Denton said.

In Troy Mills, a portion of the former school has been converted to apartments by the non-profit Troy Mills Area Housing Development Corp.

The six rental units “filled up fast” when the conversion was completed about three years ago, said Carole Brislawn, a member of the corporation's board.

Angie Hoskins, 38, a resident for the past two years, said she and her husband love their new community.

“Everyone is so friendly. We help each other out and share with neighbors,” she said.

The former Quasqueton school also has been converted to seven apartments, with a constant waiting list, and a retail space.

Owner Brian Vanous said he “is tickled” with the way the conversion has gone.

Maintenance, he said, has been reasonable because the East Buchanan school district had invested more than $100,000 in a new roof, fire doors and a fire escape not long before the school closed.