The halls of the former public school in Arthur will again be ringing with the sound of children when the Arthur Mennonite Fellowship Church and Christian Day School opens its doors in September.
The building, which has stood empty since 2005 and been the target of vandals, is slowly coming back to life as a steady stream of volunteers work repairing and painting the 21,000 square foot interior. It will also eventually be integrated with a 9,600 square foot church yet to be built adjacent to the school.
The building was purchased by the Moorefield Mennonite Fellowship last fall with members of its congregation taking over the school and church.
“We need more room,” retired contractor and church building committee member Maurice Martin told the Advertiser during a tour of the building. “Our congregation is mostly young people with an average age of 23.”
The Moorefield congregation has about 75 families associated with it, added committee member Gerald Lichty. who also operates a building contracting business.
Some of Lichty’s own children once attended the former public school so he was familiar with the property and building when the congregation purchased it.
Martin said the building was in bad shape when he first saw it with broken windows, mold, damaged classroom doors and a mess in the former gymnasium where vandals had repeatedly burned debris.
Since taking it over, volunteers have removed a section of the building jutting out into the side parking lot where the church will eventually stand, replaced windows, painted and replaced toilets. Before work started, the entire interior was pressure washed and then an anti-mold finish was put on before the paint.
Lichty said the congregation had an agreement with the previous owner, a developer, for some improvements needed to finalize the deal. The agreement included the removal of ceiling tiles and an assurance the furnace and plumbing was in working order.
“There was an agreement in the purchase and that was the furnace was up and running and he’s got a plumber in here replacing the plumbing.”
Although they won’t disclose the purchase price, Martin said the building committee has estimated renovations could come in at around $180,000.
“We had figured around $180,000 for the school, but we’re going to be under that,” Martin said.
The building costs are being kept down by using volunteers for much of the work and taking advantage of church members who are contractors, electricians and plumbers. They have also received material donations.
Even prior to purchasing the building, the church had several of its members who are contractors look it over and give the building committee an indication of what needed to be done to turn the building back into a school.
With 75 children already enrolled for September, the church has yet to finalize what yearly tuition will be.
“We’re starting smaller, we’re not planning on filling it up right away.”
“Tuition has not been finalized,” Lichty said. “It’s partly church sponsored so it’s affordable for younger families.”
Five teachers will be hired in the early stages teaching classes from Kindergarten to Grade 10.
“We do expect our teachers to be of our faith and doctrine.”
The school will also accept students from outside the Mennonite faith.
He is particularly appreciative of the volunteer labour the renovation work has garnered. Students will, in all likelihood, be carpooling to and from school.
“Everything is done with free labour,” Lichty added. “We have to because it costs too much otherwise.”
As much of the material as possible is purchased locally.
“It’s a community school,” Lichty added, referring to the fact church members want the school to become an active part of the Arthur community.
Plans are in the works for a community open house once the renovations are completed.
