Former Ashland high school demolished
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
THE FORMER ASHLAND COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL was leveled last week to make room for new soccer, baseball and softball fields. The new Ashland District School, which will house pre-K to grade 12 students, will open Wednesday, Sept. 8. During the demolition process, many people stopped to take photos and reminisce including Sharie Laveway, left, Class of 1977. Watching Soderberg Construction crews tear down the building with Laveway are, from left: Alli Kenney, and Laveway’s grandchildren, Kolson and McKenna Condon.
ASHLAND – Curious onlookers armed with digital cameras – many of whom graduated from the former Ashland Community High School – lined Hayward Street last week watching as crews from Soderberg Construction leveled the aged structure.
Built in 1951, the building housed both middle and high school students. The town’s new pre-K to grade 12 school – Ashland District School – will open Wednesday, Sept. 8.
“We’re now into Phase III of the project,” said SAD 32 Superintendent Gehrig Johnson. “After the building is down and the debris is hauled away, Soderberg will begin constructing the new soccer, baseball and softball fields.
“They’ve got all the soil, which has been screened, and loam ready to go, and will begin that project as soon as possible. The soccer field is going to be lighted which we’re really excited about,” he said. “Phase III is supposed to be done by Sept. 30.”
For those who watched the machinery gnaw away at the building, the occasion was bittersweet.
“I hate to see it go, but everybody’s excited about the new school; we can’t wait to go in there,” said Ann Chasse, Class of 1983. “The old school was run down quite a bit and needed a lot of repairs, but there were a lot of memories and good times spent there. To me, school is the best time of your life because once you graduate and enter the ‘real world,’ you have to go to work and things get tougher.
“I graduated from here and my two daughters – Melinda (Class of 2008) and Nicole (Class of 2006) – both played sports and graduated from here, as well. They also had dance class here,” she said, noting that she has videotaped and photographed the project from groundbreaking to demolition. “I have mixed emotions.”
Chasse’s son, Travis, who will be a junior when school resumes next month, isn’t as sentimental as his mother.
“I’m glad it’s gone. It was getting run down and old. I’m glad we’ve got a new school, but I’m probably going to get lost in there,” he joked.
Sharie Laveway, Class of 1977, stopped last Wednesday to take photos as the building was being torn down.
“It’s bittersweet,” she said. “I’m really happy for the new school. I think it’s great for the community. I’m glad we’re going to have a new school so our children – and my grandchildren – can stay and go to school here in Ashland. I don’t know if that would have happened if we hadn’t had the new school; I think they would have probably been transported to Presque Isle.
“At the same time, it’s hard to see the building go, but we do have to move on. Fortunately we still have the memories,” said Laveway. “My children are grown, but my grandchildren make sure I drive by so they can see the progress. The two who are in school are very excited about having the new facility.”
Elwood “Butch” Hand lives on Hayward Street with his wife, Alma, directly across the street from the school.
“I’ve lived here since 1989,” he said. “It’s sad, in a way, to see the building go. I went to basketball games and other things in that school, and during the winter – in the gymnasium – every once in a while there’d be a leak in the ceiling and water dripping down. The building was old, so it’s both a good thing and a bad thing that it’s coming down.
“It’s good for the community, the kids … everybody,” said Hand. “The new school looks great and was really needed. I’m glad it happened.”
Johnson said he’s not surprised that residents have been watching and reminiscing during the demolition process.
“There are several generations of citizens of that community that went through there, and there’s a lot of emotion and attachment,” he said. “I expected they would be there to document the occasion.”
SODERBERG CONSTRUCTION crews take down the middle school wing of the former Ashland Community High School building last Wednesday. SAD 32’s new Ashland District School cost approximately $22 million, and features an auditorium, an expanded gymnasium, and more. The school will open Wednesday, Sept. 8.
