OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Smith Elementary School in Oshkosh was brought back to life Tuesday night.
“I came here from kindergarten all through fifth and I loved it here,” Oshkosh native Tiffany Shaffer said.
Generations of families have passed through the halls and classrooms over the past 124 years. Shaffer tells FOX 11 she had to come back.
“I’m so happy that I got to send my kids here, and they got to experience the wonderful community that is Smith School.”
But the halls will soon be lifeless once again, and saying goodbye to Smith has been hard for some.
“I cried instantly. Like it’s hard to walk into a room that used to be so full of life and color and it’s dark and dreary. There’s no sign that this was once a school,” Shaffer said.
The Oshkosh school board voted unanimously to close the crumbling elementary at the end of last year.
Superintendent Vickie Cartwright tells FOX 11 it would have cost nearly $4 million to fix all of Smith’s problems.
“We were notified about the roof of the facility. And that we were unable to find anybody to certify that the roof would make it for another winter season.”
With goodbyes come hopeful new beginnings.
“We obviously don’t want to see it get torn down. We want somebody to be able to come in and fix it how it’s supposed to be and restore it to its natural beauty and utilize it,” Shaffer said. “Because I don’t think its life is over just yet.”
Cartwright said the school board will decide what to do with Smith in the “immediate future.” The students who went to Smith Elementary started the new school year off just down the road at Jefferson Elementary School.
“Now our children are in a modern facility they have the luxuries of air conditioning as well as heating. In addition to that, they now have free breakfast as well as free lunch for 100 percent of the students.”
While the community is sad to see Smith Elementary go, they’re glad they have the chance to say goodbye.
“It’s nice to be able to have them open it up and for us to look around the school. So it’s nice that they did that,” Nicole Murphy, who went to elementary school at Smith said.
If you missed your chance to say goodbye to Smith Elementary Tuesday night, there will be another open house on Saturday, at 11 a.m.
