In-Focus: Restoring the Nary Schoolhouse

From 1971 to 1972, Wayne A. Hoff attended second-grade in this very classroom.

Now the former student is leading the effort to restore and preserve his old school as a historic landmark.

Built in 1919, the Nary Schoolhouse was one of the first consolidated school’s in the state.

After Hoff left in ’72, the school closed down. Since then, the building has been used as the Helga Township Hall and Nary Community Center.

In fall of 2012, Hoff and others began the process of nominated the Nary Schoolhouse to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The auditorium on the second floor is considered the showpiece of the Nary Schoolhouse. It has the least amount of modifications and cosmetic changes out of all the rooms in the building.

The stage, band instruments, even the piano are originals from when the school first opened.

And quite possibly the most impressive feature still remaining, the massive, 25-foot boiler that still heats the two-story structure to this day.

Minor refurbishments such as painting doors and windows, replacing curtains, and polishing the floors have started to breathe life back into the historic schoolhouse.

But most of all, the goal of this project is to bring life back to the building.