GRUNDY CENTER- Teachers, community leaders, residents and interested parties came together at the Upper Elementary building on Monday night for an open house and a presentation on plans for a renovation that will transform it into a modern “one-stop shop” for daycare and preschool.
Four speakers—Maroon and White Committee Chair Melody Hoy, Mary Doak of the Grundy Center Historical Society, Grundy Center School Board member John Gordon and Grundy Center Development Corporation member Paul Eberline—addressed the crowd, sharing memories of the building’s past and hope for its future.
As Hoy explained, the COVID-19 pandemic and a subsequent surge in the price of building materials has caused a few more delays in the construction schedule than originally foreseen, but the project is still moving forward thanks to grant funding from the state for the kitchen and stage areas.
“This is truly not just for children, but it really is the kids campus, as we’re calling it,” Hoy said. “It is a community facility, and so it’s exciting that everybody can still use the building and we can preserve a historic building.”
What is now known as the Upper Elementary building first served as a high school, then a junior high and finally a fifth and sixth grade building before its current iteration as a daycare/preschool.
Hoy recounted times at the school with her friends and teacher Doris Chabal, who was in the audience and wouldn’t possibly believe she could keep her speech under three minutes due to her prolific talking abilities.
Doak called the renovation one of the most exciting projects she’s ever gotten to experience in Grundy Center, and she praised three Grundy Center superintendents—Bob Krause, John Stevens and Cass Murra—for their efforts to preserve the building even when the decision was controversial.
“This (building) is on solid ground, and it will be on solid ground for another 50 years,” she said. “What makes this building really special is the time and the events that occurred around it.”
She traced the history of the Upper Elementary to the Great Depression and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and summarized investments over the years that have helped it survive and eventually qualify for a designation on the National Registry of Historic Places.
“We have a very industrious group of people who are committed and passionate about making it happen,” she said. “We’re going to make it happen, and I’m going to live to see it happen, I hope.”
Gordon shared his experiences traveling around Iowa for work and how excited he would be to have a daycare and preschool facility on par with the best in the state, and he also urged supporters of the project to continue to make financial contributions.
Eberline discussed the upcoming housing development (26 lots in the first phase) near the golf course and how the Upper Elementary renovation would attract new families to Grundy Center.
“We need daycare. We need schools. We need space. We need to have the availability of childcare,” Eberline said.
