Time runs out for Harding school building

By Tim Yovich

WARREN — The stoic columns that have dominated the fa√ßade of Warren G. Harding High School and served as symbol of education in this community since the 1920s will remain standing, but the rest of the building will be demolished.

Putting aside pleas from many residents and alumni in recent months, the board of education voted unanimously Tuesday to reject a recommendation by a board-appointed committee seeking more time to determine how to raise more money to retain the façade, offices and auditorium.

The board’s action came after Anthony Paylavias, chairman of the Harding Historic Respect Committee, asked the board to give it until May 19 to determine what fund-raising efforts can be undertaken.

Although some board members encouraged the committee to continue discussion about preserving the fa√ßade, Paylavias said the committee was “effectively disbanded by the board.”

“We fulfilled our obligation,” he added.

Some of those who were a part of the overflow crowd were critical of the board after its decision. There were comments that the board members will never be re-elected; others were doubtful another school levy will ever be approved in the district.

The demolition process won’t take long.

Bill Sherman, project manager with Carbone, Ozanne, Hammond Management Team of Canton, said after the board meeting that demolition of the school will begin in July. It will take only about three days to knock down the building and a couple of weeks to haul the rubble away.

In 2003, when district voters approved a bond issue to replace its buildings, a separate $1 million issue was passed to provide $1 million for preservation. Of that amount, $927,000 remains.

A portion of the building must be demolished to make way for a loop road and parking when the new $41 million high school adjacent to Harding opens in August

In explaining how she arrived at her decision, board member Shari Harrell said that it was never the intent of the board to retain anything except the façade .

She noted that a committee that was to work on preservation before the levy was passed never did anything. Harrell added that the Trumbull County Historical Society had recommended that the auditorium not be saved from the wrecking ball.

Harrell said she wants to stay within the $927,000 budget and concentrate on education, not focus on the past.

“This has been difficult for all of us,” she said. “I have struggled with this. I have lost sleep.”

School board member Edward Bolino agreed with Harrell that the plan was never to retain the building. He explained that demolishing the building and retaining the façade will provide parking space for students and for special school events.

Bolino, a Harding graduate, said no group has come forward to run the auditorium and that financial responsibility overrides his sentiments.

Another school board member, Patricia Limperos, said she has respect for the past, but emphasized there was never an intent to save the footprint of the original school constructed between 1924 and 1926.

Board member Kevin Springer said he was never against saving the façade.

Robert Faulkner, board president, maintained that the education of students comes first. Although he favors preservation, Faulkner said it’s more important to educate students to “survive” in a global economy.

“This is about the future,” Bolino said. “We need to celebrate what’s going on in this community.”

After the vote, Barbara Busko of Warren, a preservation advocate, said the school board showed a “total lack of respect” for the committee by giving it two weeks to make a recommendation.

yovich@vindy.com