West Chester school serves new purpose

Residents converted building into museum, community center

By Francie Williamson, The Gazette

Editor's note: Each week we will literally throw a dart at a map of Eastern Iowa. Where the dart lands, we'll head in search of a story. We hope to discover and share stories of people and places we might not ordinarily take note of, but who make our communities special.

WEST CHESTER - On a recent summer day, Elaine and Tom Young of Washington took their grandchildren, Addison and Logan Alliman, to the playground outside the West Chester community center.

'This our first trip here; we've seen it driving by,” Elaine Young said. 'We've been to the school here for several functions.”

Carol Hough, who has been event director at the community center for about a year, said every time she goes by, there's usually someone at the community center, playing on the playground or taking advantage of its pavilion and resting if they have been using the nearby bike trails.

'We want to be a family oriented place to come,” Hough said.

The building, built in 1917, was used as a school until 1981. Students in town now attend Wellman Elementary.

About a year after the school closed, the Mid-Prairie Community School District gave West Chester the building for $1. Volunteers in turn arranged to rent the building from West Chester for $1 a year and converted it into a museum and community center. Brian Tobin, a West Chester resident and city council member, donated money for the playground equipment.

'A lot of schools this age are torn down or used for other things but this is a place where families can come and have fun,” Hough said.

On June 24, the Youngs were one of those families.

'Was my grandma here?” Addison asked as she roamed a room on the second floor of the school filled with memorabilia from over the decades.

'Your grandma played basketball out here,” Elaine Young said.

'So did I,” laughed Hough.

'We probably played against each other,” Elaine Young replied.

Today, West Chester is what Hough called a 'bedroom community.”

'Our last census we had 146 people,” Hough said. 'We're like a lot of small communities, we're struggling to keep our identity and the school is part of that process.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8502; francie.williamson@sourcemedia.net