Students reminisce during demolition

With each pile of bricks knocked to the ground, more than 40 years of memories were evoked by past students of Richland Grade School.

“That was my fourth-grade classroom,” said Zoe Bassham-Ellison, 52, of Low Point, while pointing into the direction of the demolition in front of her.

“It was the first school I ever went to,” said Carolyn Scott-Sunkin, 64, of East Peoria.

“They had the best lunches ever,” said Rita Lappin, 44, of East Peoria.

“We’d play baseball right on this corner over here,” said Loyal Van Order, 64, of East Peoria.

These former students and others gathered together all day Friday and watched the school, at 101 Globe St., stand for one last time.

After it was inspected by an AECOM engineer two weeks ago, it was deemed an emergency that it come down.

Constructed in 1927, the school closed in 1973, leaving it vacant ever since.

“It was time for it to go,” said Bob Scott, of Advanced Demolition, who also attended first grade at the school. “It had some serious structural issues.”

“The roof was just totally destroyed,” said Jamie Cassidy, operator with Advance Demolition. “The top classrooms looked like a green house. Weeds were growing everywhere.”

Robert and Myrtle Rice of East Peoria  had been the owners of the building since 1984, when the couple obtained it from the local United Auto Workers.

“I’m glad it’s coming down before someone got hurt,” said Myrtle Rice, as she watched the demolition from inside her vehicle with her husband. “We were afraid kids would get inside there.”

She said the old school was only used for storage since its closing and added that there were never any definite plans for another potential use.

The school was completely knocked to the ground by 5 p.m. Friday, said Scott.

“It went very well,” said Scott of the demolition. “It’s kind of heart breaking. But, it’s just out with the old and in with the new.”

Scott-Sunkin, who attended kindergarten through seventh grade at the school, said Richland Grade School had a reunion Aug. 28, and more than 100 people came.

Of the many stories she told, she reminisced about memories on the school’s playground.

“That was before Facebook,” she said. “When, if a guy liked you, he’d try to get close to you and tell you.”
Bassham-Ellison said she was going to miss the small school where everyone knew each other, a school where she once carved her name on its walls.

“I would have liked to walk through it one more time,” she said. “I loved that school.”

When asked about what made the school special, one teacher was mentioned multiple times by more than one former student.

Mary Serkowich, 90, is the only living teacher from the school. She taught there for 31 years.

“I’m saddened that this school had to be taken down,” she said over the phone Monday. “The children were very special. I still hear from them often.”

She added she attended the reunion Aug. 28.

“It was a special highlight of my life,” she said. “It was a privilege to be able to work there with those children.”

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