110-Year-Old Schoolhouse Being Remodeled
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The historic Fayetteville school house as it appears today. -
This photo was taken at the grand opening of the red brick Fayetteville schoolhouse in 1911. Image courtesy of Fayetteville ISD -
Fayetteville superintendent Dr. Jeff Harvey at his desk with an scanned image of the schoolhouse from 1944 on his computer screen. Photos by Andy Behlen -
During the Nation’s bicentennial in 1976, the local Cub Scout den planted a live oak tree in front of the schoolhouse.
Fayetteville ISD recently began remodeling its 110-yearold two-story red brick schoolhouse.
The district last held classes in the building in the late 1980s. Since around 1990, the historic structure has been used for storage. FISD Superintendent Dr. Jeff Harvey said the district will convert the downstairs into a spacious new library. The upstairs will house district administrative offices and a school board meeting room.
“We’re trying to be cognizant of the past while propelling ourself into the future in creating usable space for our students,” Harvey said.
Harvey said the school’s library is currently housed in a portable building. He said that building will be used for storage after the new library is built. The current district administration offices will be converted into a conference room for teachers and counselors to meet with parents and students.
Back in 2016, the district began planning a bond proposal, which voters ultimately approved, to build the new gym, improvements to school buildings and to purchase new buses. Harvey said the bond committee considered renovating the old school building as part of the proposal but ultimately set it aside.
“We were able to realize about $500,000 in savings from the bond construction,” Harvey said.
Harvey said the school board decided to use the savings from the bond to help fund the $1.25 million renovation. He said the school board committed another $750,000 from the district’s fund balance toward the schoolhouse renovation.
Gaeke Construction of Giddings is the general contractor. Harvey said construction workers have saved much of the building’s beadboard paneling, which will be reused in the renovation. An elevator will be installed inside the building to serve those with disabilities. Workers will clean up and seal the building’s beautiful wooden staircase.
Harvey said the work should be complete around September.
Sidenote
During the Nation’s bicentennial in 1976, the local Cub Scout den under the leadership of Den Mother Helen Mikus planted an oak tree in front of the old schoolhouse. A sign stands near the tree commemorating the occasion. One of the current board members, Vincent Orsak, was a member of that den.