Monday, July 30, 2018 – Old School – Want to Live in a School House?
I was driving around beautiful Bryan the other day and came across this magnificent old school building three blocks from downtown.
Upon returning home, I did some research on the building and its history. Bowie Elementary School building, as it stands today on Bryan’s west side, served the growing community for over 70 years, from about 1919 until shuttered in 1986. It is a three story symmetrical schoolhouse is Beaux Arts in style. You can Google more about the style.
Today the building is being converted into apartments and a multi-use facility. Before you go all sad on me, the developer is preserving as much as possible to retain the original design, including fixtures of the time period.
Ghost hunters and other paranormal types toured the old building, some legally, others just trespassing. The developer insists there are no ghosts. But HWIT, he is wrong. Every school building retains the spirits of those who taught there and those who learned there. In every school building the classrooms, hallways and staircases are filled with memories of all who work together to create a learning environment. We haunt the hallways just like we did back then.
I am excited to see how this project turns out. I think the individual apartments should be named after teachers, principals and staff who worked there over the years. I live in Room 1 – Mrs. Jones’ classroom.
Name the hallways after the most important individual in any school – the custodian. Name a general meeting room or entry way after the second most important individual in any school – the secretary.
I bet if I lived there my apartment would be the principal’s office or the library. During my public school years as a student I spent the most time in those two places at my elementary school.
If you start school today, here’s to you and all the rest of us who made and make a difference. We are all teachers and we touch the future. But let’s not forget our history.
Note: Six weeks from today HWIT will premier its second season of Monday After College Football Awards! Tune in to see if your favorite teams win an award.
Here's What I'm Thinking 
I have some friends in WI that did the same thing to an old school building. It was magnificent when finished as they were committed to preservation and quality rather than a quick buck!
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