LAPEER, MI -- Imagine it is the year 1980 in downtown Lapeer.
It’s a nice day -- maybe sometime in the late afternoon.
Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye, you catch a group of teachers playing croquet on top of the Lapeer junior high building.
That scenario was often a reality for now-retired former Lapeer schools educator Gary Shindorf, 70, who recalled stories of the nearly 100-year-old building the week it was being torn down.
The E.T. White Jr. High building, once used as Lapeer’s original high school, then a junior high building, started being demolished by the city of Lapeer this week.
The property was given to the city from Lapeer Community Schools after the district sold the long-vacant property to a developer in 2018, but the developers’ plans never materialized.
After being built and opened in 1923, the school building was used by generations of Lapeer public school graduates. The classrooms closed in 1995, but the building was used by district administrators up until its final closure in January 2008.
Two Lapeer educators who formerly taught at the building watched the beginning of its demolition when it began Wednesday, July 7.
Shindorf recalled one of his favorite memories at that building was going onto the roof after school to play croquet, avoid the mosquitoes and get away from the rush of the classroom.
“It was also a great vantage point to watch fireworks,” Shindorf joked.
Oscar Rodriguez, 67, remains an educator of 44 years with Lapeer Community Schools. He remembered what he called a “competitive advantage” that the volleyball teams he coached in the gym had, seeing that the old-style gymnasium’s bleachers were so close to the action.
“We had some beautiful windows in my room on the third floor, 313,” Rodriguez said. “You could see downtown Lapeer.”
The two teachers remembered the packed hallways and full classrooms they had experienced over the years. Rodriguez said the staff planted trees for the students to have some shade outside to sit under.
“Now there are trees but no kids,” he said.
They knew the building was going to come down soon, but watching the demolition was still bittersweet, Rodriguez and Shindorf said. While the building was knocked down, room-by-room, memories from working in that building rushed in, they said.
Michael Gardner, a Grand Blanc resident and member of the 1961 Lapeer graduating class, said he remembered watching the play “Hello, Dolly!” his senior year in the auditorium. He said his mother and father also graduated from the original high school in 1935.
“There is a lot of history here,” Gardner, 78, said as he watched a crew work to demolish the main entrance as he was seated where the bike racks once stood. “It had a beautiful auditorium and gymnasium. It was one of the most solid buildings in Lapeer county. ... It was a great school. We all loved it.
“It’s breaking my heart (watching it come down). It’s emotional because it was such a beautiful building. We had so many experiences -- high school dances, football games, basketball games, holding hands in the hallways and climbing up and down the stairwell.”
The building has long been in disrepair after being neglected for so long. Many Lapeer residents thought the property would be dealt with in 2018 when it was sold to a developer, but plans fell through.
At one point, the district considered cleaning the property up themselves to be sold. However, the high price for cleanup turned administrators away.
Lapeer City Manager Dale Kerbyson said the building has been falling apart, literally. The building was even unsafe to enter.
A remediation company was hired to take care of the hazardous materials before it could be demolished, Kerbyson said. All electronic equipment, an environmental review of the building, and an asbestos abatement had to be conducted before being cleared for demolition.
The property is more attractive to developers near downtown Lapeer when it is a vacant lot, Kerbyson said. This is the next logical step in taking care of and reusing the property.
Reclaimed Michigan, a company that specializes in barn wood, custom furniture, signs, salvage and vintage pieces, came into the building to repurpose school materials to later sell and preserve the history, Kerbyson said.
Before the building had fallen too far in disrepair, the Lapeer County Historical Society also received some artifacts from the building, including the sign above the school’s entrance, seats from the auditorium and more.
Demolition will be paid for with a $200,000 federal grant awarded to the city for the property.
Read more on MLive:
Lapeer mayor says ‘things will prosper again’ after large downtown fire
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