For Addison Township, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009 is going to be a day for the history books.
At precisely 9 a.m., the Addison School Building began the eight-mile trek northward from the corner of Lakeville and Hosner Rd. to Watershed Preserve Park, north of Leonard, to begin the school’s restoration project.
The total cost of the move was $9,700.
According to Addison Twp. Supervisor Bruce Pearson, it was the best way to honor the school.
‘I think everybody benefited by saving the historical building and putting it back to an educational use,? he said.
The journey began by loading the school onto a trailer from C & A Building Movers and Demo, located in Berville. From there, it set out on Lakeville Rd., snaked it way around the s-curves in Lakeville and made it’s way to the park.
The first major obstacle encountered was the guardrail along Lakeville and Rochester Rd. in Lakeville. According to Pearson, they were able to maneuver around them by lifting up one end of the building.
The last major problem came when they had to cut trees north of Army Rd. to Rowland Rd. ‘That’s where the hangup was…there was one big Oak limb that just didn’t want to give,? he said.
When they came into Leonard, people were sitting in lawn chairs on both sides of the street anticipating the school coming through town.
‘I don’t know if we will ever see another move like that in this town because there aren’t that many historical buildings left,? said Pearson.
The school came to it’s last stop in Watershed, where is was raised 12 feet in order to construct the basement that will hold the ranger station.
Once the basement is complete, they will be able to lower the school onto the foundation, reattach the roof and relandscape the area. Then they will be able to take their time finishing the rest of the restoration project.
‘What we are going to do is refurbish it back to a one room school,? said Pearson. He noted that they were able to locate the original teacher and children desks, a 48 star flag and retrieve the original bell, chalkboard and school books. They were also able to find a pot belly stove.
The school portion of the building will be used as a public welcome/education center into Watershed. The basement will be a park ranger station for the 16 rangers who patrol the park seven days a week.
‘When they are done learning in it, they can walk right out the door and go right into our nature preserve park and see firsthand what nature has to offer them,? said Pearson.
He believes that it should be open to the public a year from now.
Bob Godkin, 75, whose relatives were instrumental in building the school, was thrilled to see the school start to be restored. ‘It became a township project,? he said. ‘It pulled the town together and was great PR.?
According to Godkin, he went to a one room school that was kindergarten through eighth grade, and he wants kids to experience what it was like to be taught in a one-room school building.
‘It will be there forever,? said Godkin.
Mary Frost, who grew up attending the church next door, said that it was great that the community came together for the event.
‘It’s really nice to see it not being neglected,? she said.
A total of a couple hundred people came out to see the school building move.
‘We had no idea that this many people would come out and see the move…we had alot of people who were descendents of the original Arnolds and the school, alot of people are still alive that went to the school.?
Pearson would like to thank all the supporters and volunteers who helped make the move a huge success. and all the people who donated money to help move the school.
He would like to thank Ed Brakefield, Bill Devine and Godkin for all the hard work they did being on the Arnold School committee. He would like to thank Eric Eisenhardt for all the work he did on landscaping the final site. He also like to thank Rob Coombs, Phil Marshall, Larry Douglas, Timber Tree and K & S Tree Service for helping clear the final site.
He would also like to thank the Lakeville Inn for donating the whole basement and Louie’s for donating the labor for putting the basement in and providing food during the tree clearing.
This was the next chapter in the long history of the school. According to Leah Arnold’s book History of Arnold School, District #8, Addison Twp., MI, in 1857, John Layton was hired to build the schoolhouse because Addison Twp had more than 200 families, and by law that required a school district. Layton then received $367 to build the schoolhouse. Classes were held at the schoolhouse until 1956, when it consolidated with Oxford Community Schools.
In the summer of 1959, the school was bought by the Addison Community Church from the Oxford School District for $1,100.
On July 30, 2009 the school was purchased by Addison Township for $1.