<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2fjaVQ_0vleOn0K00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2fjaVQ_0vleOn0K00" width="1794" height="1056" ></figure>A historic Ravenna school building is in danger of being demolished.Located at 165 E. Highland Ave., the building was constructed in 1910 as an addition to the 1883 version of Ravenna High School. Ravenna opened a larger high school at Clinton and East Main streets in 1923, but the old section was renamed Walnut School and served Ravenna’s grade school students until it closed in 1954.After that, not much happened there other than meetings, said Portage County Historical Society Vice President Kevin Gray.“The Ravenna school system no longer had a need for the building. It had been empty for a number of years, and they were looking for someone else to take over. They had no use for it, and they didn’t want to have to deal with it,” Gray said.In 2018, the Ravenna Board of Education gifted the building to Family and Community Services.FCS didn’t have much use for it either, but used it for storage until that, too, became unfeasible. The building lacks elevators, and even the first floor is only accessible by stairs, so everything must be hauled in and out by hand, FCS Executive Director Mark Frisone said.Contractors and architects Frisone has asked to assess the building have told him that just making it accessible and weathertight would cost more than $2 million. Bringing utilities in would cost even more, and renovations, including adding restrooms, even more than that.All for a building that Frisone said would still be unsuitable for offices, residential spaces or just about anything else.“We’d love to save the grand old dame, but I knew this day would eventually come,” he said. “It’s not like we haven’t tried. We’ve looked at it a thousand ways to Sunday, and it just doesn’t make too much financial sense. We’ve been unsuccessful, so maybe the best thing is to take it down.”With little alternative, FCS has turned to the Portage County Land Bank, a nonprofit dedicated to revitalizing local communities.Land Bank Executive Director Dan Morganti estimated the demolition cost at $105,000, which could be covered by an Ohio Department of Development grant. He could not say when the state would render its decision on the land bank’s grant application.FCS will retain ownership of the property and could sell the vacant lot, he said.“I think it would be very difficult to repurpose the old school for a new use. We’re certainly open to being involved in dialogue about the future of the property with any of the appropriate stakeholders,” Morganti said.Even at this late date, Frisone hasn’t given up hope.“If somebody walked up with a huge checkbook and was willing to write a blank check, we’d be in business, but so far we haven’t come across anybody,” he said.</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

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Ravenna’s 114-year-old Walnut School building may soon be demolished

A historic Ravenna school building is in danger of being demolished. Located at 165 E. Highland Ave., the building was constructed in 1910 as an addition to the 1883 version of Ravenna High School. Ravenna opened a larger high school at Clinton and East Main streets in 1923, but the old section was renamed Walnut School and served Ravenna’s grade school students until it closed in 1954.