Just thought id start a thread regarding memories at Mena Middle School.....What a CHUNK of Mena History soon to be gone....built in 1941, sooo many families passed through that place....I shore hate to hear it being gone.... :crying:

I have some serious concerns about the school being torn down. Word to me was that DG said the night the tornado hit that the kids would go to Hatfield for two years and she wasn't going to fix the school. That was an awful quick decision, considering no one with any knowledge in engineering had looked at it yet.

Questions about this are:

Did they not have some insurance?
Can part of it be saved?
Is anyone interested in buying it as is?
Who made this decision? and based on what?
Who exactly does this school belong to?

From what I hear, she wants to sell the property and move on. Well, I consider this school a historical marker for this town and think rash decisions should not be made at this time. I would also like to know the details of their reasoning, obviously. She may not have a connection to this school, but this town does.

They saved the old armory, why not the school?

The word i heard was that the structural integrity of the building is in question and has been sacrificed from possible shifting of walls.

Rather than take a chance on it collapsing 5 years from now and killing hundreds of OUR kids...they go to plan B.....Im not saying DG didnt say what you have heard, but I would think as an Educator of MANY years, the kids safety is at hand here and FIRST on her mind....
It will take 2years to construct a school....MY question is, hmmmm.they DID have insurance, PLUS the state kicked in 3MILLion in RELIEF...(hearsay, not factual first hand)......and with the bond issue.....i think this will all add up to a surplus for MSD once the smoke clears....

Funny how natural disasters have the ability to turn in to a blessing in the Long Term....God has it all under control after all ya reckon?? :thumb:

I wasn't saying the kids should go back there. I'm trying to save the "old" part of the school, if it's at all possible. The new school will be built in 2 years, and the kids wouldn't be going there anyway. I just thought it strange on how quick she made the decision. All the teachers are telling the kids the thing is going to be torn down and they aren't happy about it either.

I just don't want to see it torn down, leveled, gone, etc. if there are other uses or remedies for it. If an engineer comes in (that she doesn't know) and says there is absolutely no way to save it, then so be it. I'm not going to just take her word for it, because I find her sort of "out of touch" anyway. Her main concerns to me, seem to be the bottom dollar. No offense, but that's just how I see it.

Make it the new Polk County Jail and house low risk prisoners for other counties to help out with expenses.

I agree. I had heard the courthouse was interested in it, after the kids were done with it in 2 years.

County jail?
County/City extension offices?

I'm only referring to the main building of course. I do understand the other parts of the school are compromised, due to less integrity in construction.

Could she not fix the main part and then sell it?

MJ....

Have you looked at the back side of the school??? And the top of it?? Dont mistake me for being a smart aleck, im not trying to be........NOT AT ALL....

With as much damage as is there, would the city really wanna invest that much in repairing/modifying to suit their needs???

Im sure they are putting ALL this in perspective when making decisions.....There is a WHOLE lot more thought going into this than the average public eye is seeing.......I can ASSURE you of that, but there are just some things that would take hours to explain for EVERYONE to understand COMPLETELY.....

Yes, I've seen the school. I guess that's my point, the main part isn't that bad, not bad enough to tear down. Use the insurance to fix the main part and sell it. Do you think no one would be interested? I disagree.

Oh.........If I were the zoo keeper for just a day!.............. :D

Seriously, I just think there are other avenues to look at, that's all.

Of course, it would be really nice if she (DG) would make a public statement of her intentions, instead of telling faculty and children, with an explanation. Might shut me up for once. :rolleyes:

Well the MAIN REASON for not using it for public use..........ASBESTOS.......Throughout the building...and with the shake up it took, its worse than the Formaldehyde in the FEMA homes....LOL

There goes more of my hard earn tax dollars.........Who cares if its reasonable to repair, lets just waste money..........So now where are they gonna get the money for the new high school.......

I am thinking condemmed for use as a school. What the School Board decides to do with the building is another matter. I can't imagine being in her position. The kid's welfare is first and foremost on her mind, that I can gurantee. We pay her to make decisions and I trust her judgement on this one.

MEMORIES OF MENA HIGH: People throwing typewriters out of Mr. Riggles 2nd story window. T-P-ing the mimosa trees from 2nd story. The smoking section. The New Cristi minstel shows. One time a guy threw a defanged copperhead into the girls bathroom. I could go on and on..........

Oh.........If I were the zoo keeper for just a day!.............. biggrin.gif [QUOTE]

No thank you I wouldn't want DG's job for any amount of money. Even Obama can't print that much money for me to put up with what DG does. And I might add She does it with a smile.

That's a bummer. I went there for 3 years had have lots of memories of the building. One thing I do remember about the old part of the school was it had a basement. I wonder if whoever builds something there will take advantage of the gigantic hole? Since the ground is so rocky, basements are rare in Mena.

That sounds serious.

"Most" of the time, tearing down and starting over is cheaper and easier than trying to rebuild something that is at all structurally damaged/unsound.

Given the very stringent specifications that schools have to conform to architecturally (I used to work for an architect that only did schools.......what a lot of hoops you gotta jump thru!) there would be absolutely no room for error or second-guessing.

Still, it would be very sad to see it go. Would really be nice to try and save it in some shape or form, even if not for a school. My memories and my children's memories are in that place. I told my kids what happened and that it is possible it may be torn down. To say the least, they are upset by it.

7th grade walking up the stairs to class, looked down and there laid a wad of money. Ended up being 5 twenty dollar bills. Turned it in to the office, come to find out it belonged to Mr. Foster. He was so happy to get it back that he gave me one of those twentys for my honesty. :D

I had to wash nearly every window in that school one time. I wasn't even in that much trouble but MH seemed to think the punishment fit the crime. Do you think getting into a flour fight in Home Ec was worth washing windows for three days?

I'm sad about the school because when I moved to Mena I was in 6th grade so that's the first place I went. First kiss, first boyfriend, lots of firsts. Not to mention my stepdad went there when it was the H.S. and his stories were hilarious. It will be especially sad to lose that grand audotorium. That was my favorite part of the school. The sounds and smells and the heavy curtains and wood floor of the stage, it was all kind of magical when I was young.

well said OMO

:agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree:

Field day at the end of school. Rember coming home with ribbons stuck all over me, especially in the team events. May not have been the best athlete, but had the unique ability to surround myself with them. Then again some folks say I was full of s##t. :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

naw that was me that was full of s#@$ :laughing:

One not so good memory I have of MMS is coming out of Ms F's English class to find out the space shuttle Challenger had exploded. That's one of those "where were you when you heard about..." events.

Freshmen at the high school when that one happened

"What a CHUNK of Mena History soon to be gone....built in 1941,"

The first high school, located at 11th and Magnolia, burned in Feb. 1940. For the next three years classes were held in churches, etc., much like today.

The dedication of the "new" school was held July 1943. Grades 7,8,9 were upstairs, grades 10,11,12 were downstairs. Eventually the old NYC building was partitioned into individual classrooms and grades 7,8,9 were moved there and that was the organization until the fall of 1976 when the present high school opened and grades 9,10,11,12 were moved there and the old NYC/jr. high school was shut down.

The gym was constructed in 1958 and the old gym/auditorium(built in 1941) was redone to it's present form around 1960. The addition to the south end of the school building was done in the early '70s and the east addition on the old football field was done in the mid '90s.

The insurance company now owns the property, as I understand it. Not the school district. The insurance company will make the decisions as to the fate of the building. It is now worthless. It will not be easy to dispose of. Monolithic concrete never is. The land will have no value unless the structures are gone.

Questions will have to be resolved regarding the city auditorium and the gym and the cafeteria. Those will have to be resolved with all of it and everyone is not going to be happy. But the days of school on n. Mena Street are pretty well assured of being over.

Someday, all the Mena schools will be in one location, on the 180 acres or so on Morrow and all will be on one side of the rr track, assuring greater safety and well being for the district's children.

So, what will eventually happen to the buildings at Hatfield as they will someday have no value to the school district but will be a finacial upkeep concern? That's always a problem when any school no longer meets the mission it was designed for. That's true of Southside School, Stilwell School and Central School, as well as all 81 of the schools that existed in Polk County in 1920.

Change. It's constant. :thumb:

Well said but sad nun the less dred.

thank you for that history Dred, I never knew any of that... It is really sad that this is happening... :(

I fail to comprehend what is sad about destroying an uninhabitable building.

Ya ain't from around these here parts, er ya?

Dear Bigrich:

It is sad that hundreds of people have no homes. It is sad that hundreds of students have no school. Yes, it is unhabitable- but it can still be sad.

It is also sad that you feel that way.

I generally tolerate quiet a bit, But you might wanna step lightly here.

:agree: :agree: :agree:
even if you never went to school there it still holds certain memories and the historical fact alone is sad. None of us lived in the cabin in the park but we would all be sad to see it go if it was deemed it had to. As close knit as this community is, it is hard to see any of it go, houses included. In some way we are all connected and what happens to one affects us all in some way, even if you don't live there at the moment. This is just on a much larger scale. My heart goes out to Mena and I hate seeing this happen to MMS and many other buildings. I know that it will never look the same again!! I know that I will hardly recognize my home town when next I come back to it. :crying:

I went there for the 6th,7th and 8th grades....memories of running from gym to main building in the rain...programs in the auditorium...magic shows, plays, Bozo the clown came to Mena and performed there....having some kind of play day...tug of war, all kinds of competitions,....going to the football games at the old Jim Rackley field....lots of good memories there...gonna miss the place if they tear it down....lots of good and bad memories....wont lose those but I sure hate to see it go... :crying:

Maybe the powers that be can reroute some of the money that was supposed to be for a new high school. Maybe use the current high school for the new middle school. It's bound to be big enough for only housing three grades instead of four. :dunno:

Big John:

There was no “old Jim Rackley field”. Mr. Rackley was a coach and teacher for many years, now retired.
There was the “Boyd Stadium” and the “Mena Football Field”. All that’s left is the “Boyd Stadium” monument/sign at the Morrow street entrance to the “new” Jim Rackley Field.

That's exactly what the plan is. The old high school will become the new middle school. It won't require rerouting of any funds as this is what the plan has been all along.

I am so sorry to hear about the MMS. My dad, Clyde Jones, taught shop, agri, and 7th grade science there for 25 yrs. I remember going with him when he would chaparone the football games. I hung out with him during the summer in the workshop. Very sad.

My thoughts and prayers are with you all during these trying times.

Lana Jones-Edwards
Wasilla, Alaska

I remember when someone in our shop class (not me!) rigged a smoke device to Mr. Jones desk drawer. It set the desk on fire. The whole class went to the office that day. In welding shop, we would weld the car hoods (used to practice welding strings of beads on thin sheet metal) solid to the welding tables. That made Mr. Jones turn red in the face. We was onery, but it was a fun class.

Hope someone can answer my question.....Considering that MMS is condemned and the district is not planning on rebuilding, why are they going to so much trouble in having this company working on the building (drying it out, etc)? Seems as if it will be torn down eventually , it is a lot of wasted time and money... :scratch: