|
from The Telegraph
September 19, 2007
Volunteers to help clean out old school
By LINDA N. WELLER
The Telegraph
ALTON — Anyone who wants to take a peek inside the old St. Patrick’s School can do so Sept. 29 — and help clear out clutter left behind in the future neighborhood community services center.
Bruce Bertolino, site coordinator of the Alton Weed and Seed neighborhood revitalization strategy, is organizing a volunteer cleanup of the old school at 1000 E. Fifth St.
“We are so glad someone bought the building who envisions the same use for it that we do,” Bertolino said. “I am hoping we can show our support for their investment by helping them clean house.”
He said volunteers would haul old, abandoned items from building down to its multi-purpose room.
“We are going to gear up for a garage sale,” he said. The sale will be held after a citywide litter cleanup next month.
“My partner, Duane Randall, and I are overjoyed and touched by the outpouring of volunteer support for a morning cleanup of the old St. Pat’s School,” co-owner Penny Schmidt of Alton said. “We feel privileged to have been able to acquire this building loaded with history and hope to keep up the good memories for the community.”
During the “de-cluttering,” from 8 a.m. to noon, no cleaning chores will be involved, he said. Free coffee and doughnuts will be provided, and the A-Town Steppers will perform.
The “house cleaning” is a precursor to the semi-annual, citywide litter cleanup that will be held from 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 20.
After that cleanup of trash and garbage by individuals or organizations’ teams, volunteers will relax at the former school for a free cookout from noon to 2 p.m. Residents also will celebrate the Family Learning Center’s third anniversary with cake, ice cream and a tour of St. Patrick’s.
For more information about either cleanup, call Bertolino at (618) 463-5359.
Schmidt and Randall, also of Alton, bought the school at auction on July 31.
They plan to consolidate the two locations of the Family Learning Center to an upper floor, accessible from the rear, at the first of the year and want to bring in other community group tenants.
"We have had interviews with a number of community service organizations - all of which are delighted by the opportunity to have close physical proximity to the Family Learning Center but await funding approval," Schmidt said. "We Would love to see complementary usage by organizations offering an after-school homework program, day care, individual and family counseling, legal aid, food pantry - all of which have approached us with interest."
Schmidt said she and Randall have made "serious headway cleaning up the grounds - the lawns, play area, weeds and brush in rear parking lots and around the building. We have a plan for plantings around the Central Avenue and Fifth Street corner, and the city has offered to replant three flowering trees along the Fifth Street sidewalk."
Two representatives from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency visited the building in August to provide suggestions on rehabilitating it while keeping the facade's design integrity.
The older part of the school dates to 1904 or 1905.
Construction on the newer, southern half of St. Patrick's began in 1959, seven years after the church bought the adjacent property. The $250,000 addition was finished and dedicated Aug. 6, 1960.
For several years in the 1970s, it housed the Consolidated Catholic School, made up of St. Patrick's and Ss. Peter and Paul students. St. Patrick's School closed in June 1987. Alton Day Care then began leasing space at the school and later bought the property.
St. Patrick's Catholic Church, across Central Avenue from the school, closed in November 1997.
linda_weller@thetelegraph.com
|
