This is the continuing story of the Shakespearean-like little hamlet, Mantua Township, Ohio. A comedy of errors, it is loaded with irony, sometimes silliness, sometimes idiocy. To bring readers up to date, it’s a story that often features people of honesty, compassion and empathy. It also has a distinct Machiavellian side. Are some of these people really bad people, the villains? Some likely could be, but most are fine upstanding people just like ourselves going about their business with their own motivations and opinions. Conflicts develop, and of course, personalities play into the story. Some of us find some resulting actions abominable, unfortunate, certainly not to our taste but others find them appropriate and satisfactory. Let us not label him/her as good, bad, or horrible. It is an American drama playing itself out with a cast of characters from our hometown staged here and now. You fill in the names for these characters. We continue…
To be sure there were many unforeseen obstacles that presented themselves along the way in the acquisition and here-to-for non resurrection of the Mantua Center School building. Steve Oros, a central figure in the school acquisition, passed on. A new trustee was elected/appointed. The balance of power began to shift slightly. Mark Hall, the last of the original forward thinkers was unseated in a subsequent election by a new trustee said to be backed by the local pseudo-politician power broker. Was this idle gossip or….what? The balance of power continued to shift. We lost Vic Grimm in 2019. He too unexpectedly passed on. He was the main spearhead to the Save the School movement.
“Politics is as politics does”, to borrow a line from the 1920s comedian W.C. Fields. Depending upon who is currently in office determines the interest and direction of big issues, and we conceivably change politicians every four years. Oh dear! Up to then, for the trustees, the only major expenses and responsibilities for the Township were to ….pave the roads, fix the roads, ditch the roads and clear the roads in the winter and figure out how to afford to pave a mile or two of dirt roads every year—not exactly rocket science! There was no real development going on in Mantua Township except for a couple new houses here and there. Mantua Township was best known for its Sand and Gravel pits and the mucklands where celery, potatoes, and sod farms were the main activities. Township trustee duties were pretty rote, not complicated. Then this school building thing happened, dropped in like an asteroid from outer space.
Monumental feuds, silly now if you think about them, developed between the township trustees, land barons and wanna-be- politicos. Was it really power struggles? There were/are two distinct groups—the conservative traditionalists represented by many of the township trustees and their supporters, and the other was /is the innovative, progressive thinkers, represented by MaRSI and their supporters. One side accused the other of spreading misinformation (and you thought that was only a recent political tactic by a former President in Washington) thus confounding things. More people passed on, died. New politicians with their own axes to grind came to power.
In short order it also became clear that major expenses would be incurred to make the building more usable and up to date. OK, let’s concede to the conservative traditionalist group that maybe the innovative progressive group underestimated the expenses a bit (well, maybe more than a little bit…..a lot)! After all, the building was 90 years old with only absolutely minimal upgrading along the way. Of course this never happens in modern politics does it? Shame on them!
Politics waxes and wanes with new elected officials. “That building is a waste of money, it’s losing money every day” was shouted by the “traditionalist group”. Actually the building was paid off -no mortgage-, costing the township only the utilities. And let’s concede that this is not just a minor expense, especially in winter. Attempts were made to sell the building. Legally it was clarified that changing the use of the building from historical to commercial would involve major renovation costs to potential buyers. This continues today to discourage the sale of the building. “Tear it down” was espoused by one of the most recently elected politicos. At some point one of the politicos solicited a bid for destruction of the building. To his/her great surprise it was in the millions… Hmm, think about that! Is this building an albatross around the Township’s neck?
Meanwhile grants that were applied for initially by MaRSI to install an elevator and fix the roof came through. Both these things got done in record time–working elevator installed and roof fixed. Yes, the building improved under MaRSI involvement but it was clear that very much more would need to be done. Per MaRSI and the Historical Society the building clearly needs to remain a historical entity. Changing that would destroy the historical integrity of the building. Incidentally and unexpectedly, it was clarified by the State and Federal governments that, because it is classified as an antique historical building, it would not necessarily have to be brought up to new modern standards. Therefore, we, then and now, HAVE an occupancy permit for the building AS IS! However, AS IS is not acceptable to many people in the township, potential renters or the politicos. Maybe this is the actual answer to the often posed question, Why has the building sat vacant these past several years? To repeat the old adage, Politics is as politics does! The dilemma is: “Can you really use it AS IS or must you modernize it costing millions”? Where would you get the millions? We have no benefactors here in Mantua Township!
Never-the-less, here is an analogy worth considering that is simply labeled The Point of No Return. When a long distance airplane flying over the ocean develops engine troubles and they are over half-way to their destination, what do you do? Do you turn back, or do you continue on? The poll says that most would choose to continue on because you already have expended a great deal of energy and resources, you know where you have been and you know where you want to go. Big Dilemma! It is nineteen years later now; the building sits vacant.
Skip Schweitzer is a past Township Trustee, 1990-94. He also served on the Zoning Appeals in the 1980s. He has first-hand knowledge of the local politics. He is a psychologist, current newspaper columnist, and retired businessman. He has lived in Mantua Township since 1975 (48 years). His children went to Mantua Center School and his wife Barbara retired from the School after 28 years. He has been associated with the MaRSI Save the School effort since the school was purchased. He is part of the Moonshadow Trio that sings and plays at the MaRSI Soup and Salad dinners. Many other people including Lynn Harvey, Carole Pollard, Kathy Hughes, Dottie Sumerlin, Trustee Matt Benner, contributed to this series.
