Let me spin you a fairytale. Once upon a time long ago in Elizabethan England there was a little hamlet called Mantua Township, the outlying area around the bigger village of Mantua. (old English tales always had “villages” to stage their plays in)……….. This, incidentally, is a true Shakespearean Comedy of Errors which always includes a tragedy. I’m losing you, eh? Too many mixed metaphors! OK then, let’s center it in the here and now in our little hamlet of Mantua Township in Ohio. It’s really, though, a Shakespearean Comedy of sorts loaded with miscalculations, errors, mistakes, tongue-in-cheek references, irony, sometimes idiocy. The tragedy is that a grand building sits wasted and for the most part useless. It’s a story that often features people of honesty, compassion and empathy. But it also has a distinct Machiavellian side with people of manipulativeness, exploitation and callousness. The characters in our play are not here assigned actual names; you the local readers will likely have little trouble recognizing the characters. Our local political leaders of this township, here-in-after referred to as “politicos”, are in the cast of characters which contains, bards and heroes (good guys who have names), heroines, villains, bullies, ne’re-do-well pseudo politicians as well as do-gooders. All these characters in our play are real and from our hometown hamlet of Mantua, Ohio and have names that you would recognize. The title of this fairytale is King of the Vacant Castle, and the subtitle is Let’s fight over the plight of an historic, Castle-like school building. The plot is to somehow maintain the little community status quo stability and do nothing. The questions to the king-the local politicos– are.
1. What are the barriers to making the school usable and rentable?
2. What are your plans to overcome these barriers?
Let’s set the stage.
Our story begins in 1914 when a new school building was built in Mantua, Ohio. Designed by a world-famous architect to new fireproof standards it is one of the very few examples left in existence—a true Stonehenge of sorts. Life went merrily on as usual for the next 90 years until 2004 when the school system, faced with state requirements consolidated all their holdings and created one new central elementary school. What to do with this magnificent old building? Why, offer it to the Township government for a ridiculously cheap price. They could certainly make good use of it since their current buildings are meager, not in the best condition and God forbid, made of matchstick wood (easily flammable)… Let us continue our transition into modernity.
Nineteen years ago, in 2004, the Mantua Township Trustees were handed the opportunity to purchase the Mantua Center School from the Schoolboard for the whopping sum of $150,000 which even by today’s standards would be considered a dirt-cheap bargain. Under the guidance of then Trustees Vic Grimm, Steve Oros, and Connie Leedom, who each polled the local constituency, the deal was quickly consummated with the idea that the building could be renovated and sustain itself by renting out some of the space and reserving the larger portion for a Community Center and township offices (i.e., fiscal office, zoning office, Historical Society office etc.). This was by no means a radical, off the wall idea. Many, many retired school buildings along Rt 44 from Lake Erie to the southern state line have been turned over to local governments for use in administration, community centers and such. In 2006 a major architectural firm surveyed it and pronounced it usable and able to be rented out. The gymnasium annex offered a year-round multitude of possible uses for teens, adults, and oldsters. Various community groups could hold events there, i.e., church craft shows, music programs, dance classes. Other groups could rent it. There were offers by local businesses, i.e., real estate offices, insurance agencies, to rent out space for offices; a preschool childcare expressed interest, and a host of other offers were quickly offered up. The whole idea was to turn this vacant building into a community-oriented location that would serve the people of Mantua Township, the Village, and surrounding communities. It had much potential to support itself. This, of course, was very new and radical thinking to this farm country community that had sprung up at the confluence of Rt. 82 and Mantua Center Roads. You might say that the “Old Guard” had pretty much ruled this kingdom for the last many eons. The last newest idea coming down the pike was to cope with those danged, newfangled gasoline machines tearing up our 52 miles of good dirt roads. God forbid that we are now gonna have to put down some asphalt………..
The Mantua Restoration Society Incorporated organization, hereinafter referred to as MaRSI, which was a service organization formed by a group of local citizens in the 1970s (those radical thinking days in our Nation’s history) jumped on the task of spearheading the “restoration—whatever that meant” of the school building.
As with any radical-for-the-time idea upsetting the applecart of peace, tranquility and no changes, there were naysayers, local “boss hog” pseudo-politicians, overblown land barons and such that pooh-poohed the whole idea. You wonder how did these people get to be what and where they are? To hear it from their still living peers who grew up with them, some say that they were that way—arrogant, nasty, troublemakers– as children. “My mother said to stay away from so-and-so; don’t play with him. He’s a bad influence,” I hear over and over! What really happens to children anyway? Apparently, they grow up to be local boss hoggs, pseudo politicians and overblown land barons!
However, there was also an immense ground swell of support for getting this building going as a Community Center. There is a great deal of sentimentality attached to the historical school. Some of our wives and husbands spent their entire working lives teaching at this school. A majority of our children went there. Generations have come and gone through that building that is still standing as a monument to the lives of many, many people. It is, in fact, Mantua’s Ellis Island of sorts—so many of us, then new to the community, went through and had direct involvement in/with that school Church people, Kiwanis Clubs, Rotary, other service organizations, the Mantua Township Historical Society, all came to township meetings to talk about, express their support and interest in the project. So did various naysayers and powerbrokers.
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.
