PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – Cunningham Middle School’s days are numbered, with plans for its demolition set to take place early next week.
According to an official with Soderberg Construction, the Caribou contractor whose bid was selected for the demolition job, barriers were being put in place this week, with interior demolition and removal of debris currently under way. By the beginning of next week, plans are to take the building down.
City officials decided late last year to remove the structure, since attempts to sell the property – including the building – resulted in little interest from developers.
“The building required too many upgrades to meet codes – standards for different uses,” said City Manager Tom Stevens. “We (City Council) agreed it would be in the community’s best interest to demolish the building, putting the job out to bid late last year. Soderberg now has acquired all the necessary permits to begin the project, which should get under way within a week.”
Once the school is gone, the city will be in a better position to market the lot for future development.
During the March 5 City Council session, Councilmen Ron McPherson and Don Gardner took a moment during the citizen comment portion of the meeting to express their thoughts on the pending destruction of a piece of Presque Isle’s history.
“I have one citizen comment – a personal thing to me – probably in a week Cunningham’s coming down. I took a weekend walk through the facility. A lot of memories came back. It’s the same for many in the county. There’s a lot of history in those walls,” said McPherson.
McPherson recalled the many hours spent playing basketball in the gym and various other activities he took part in while attending the former high school.
“The thing that struck me the most was the first room on the right – Mr. Snell’s room – where I was when the announcement made that the president of the United States had been assassinated. (When I visited recently) I stood in the same spot I head the announcement and it was as quiet this weekend as it was that day,” said McPherson. “Job well done, old friend, you’ve served us well.”
Gardner added his comments on the old school.
“Ron and I have been friends for a long time – spent a lot of time in that school. We fought long and hard to save the school but couldn’t do it. I’d encourage anyone between now and when the wrecking ball hits to go say goodbye to her,” said Gardner. “She’s a grand old lady.”
Robin Sawyer, a citizen in the audience, also commented on Cunningham.
“I’ve only lived here three years and I loved that building. Thank you for trying to save it,” said Sawyer.
Although the building will be down soon, many memories of Cunningham will live on in the bits and pieces that have been removed from her in recent weeks. With approval from city officials, various groups have been allowed in the building to claim whatever they can for use elsewhere. City departments, such as police and fire, got first dibs, with organizations like Wintergreen Arts and the Star City ATV Club getting their turn to retrieve reusable items from the building in the last week. Officials with Wintergreen were hoping to salvage items such as coat hooks and blackboards. The ATV club went for materials that could be used in the construction of a new clubhouse.
On Saturday, March 10, SCATV members gathered around 8 a.m. at the school, spending the better part of the morning removing whatever they deemed usable in their upcoming construction project.
“We were able to salvage enough ceiling tiles and the framing for them to do the clubhouse. We also got several suspended lighting fixtures,” said Bob Good, public relations officer with the SCATV.
Lockers and a large bulletin board were also removed from Cunningham for use by the club. Unfortunately, a few other items members hoped to get for their clubhouse were too difficult to remove. Tables and a desk were included in the list of souvenirs the club put in the large box truck they used to transport the materials so lovingly removed from the historic structure.
“We’d wanted to get a bunch of windows, but when they put the new ones in, they bricked around them. We couldn’t get them out without destroying their frames. We also couldn’t get the counters from the home ec room. They wouldn’t budge,” said Dick Howlett, club president.
A lot of solid wood floors will be lost when the building is demolished, since they were put in with square-headed nails and proved too difficult to remove and would have made the wood unusable anyway.
McPherson, who serves on the Board of Directors for the SCATV, spent much of Saturday morning combing nooks and crannies of the old school, flashlight in hand, looking for anything that might be of use to the club. From time to time he’d pause, recalling a memory of an event or conversation he’d been involved at that particular spot in the school, while a student.
“There’s just so much history here. So many people have walked these halls,” said McPherson. “It’s just a shame it had to come to this. She’ll be missed by many.”
