Moulton Elementry School, which closed in 2004.
Precious Grundy | The Lima News
MOULTON — After almost 20 years of the doors officially shutting, Moulton Elementary School outside Wapakoneta is coming down.
The Auglaize County commissioners passed a resolution Wednesday afternoon to accept bids for the demolition of Moulton School. The property, 14274 Moulton-Fort Amanda Road, Wapakoneta, was closed in 2004.
The commissioners will use the Ohio Department of Development Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program grant funding. Auglaize County was awarded $300,000 to complete the project.
“This is an exciting opportunity for potential redevelopment of that site,” said Auglaize County Administrator Erica Preston. “The state of Ohio was targeting sites that were at the point of disrepair, or there were efficiencies in restoring. This demolition program is to remove the existing structure and have properties that could be used for redevelopment in the future.”
The property, owned by Moulton Midgets LLC, will be retained by the owners once the demolition is complete. The LLC will make the decision for what the future holds for the land.
“They (Moulton Midgets LLC) will control the redevelopment of it,” Preston said. “That was a part of the application, knowing that it is a location off of 33. It would potentially have some re-development purposes and maybe in the future, but there is no commitment or guarantee of what they have to do with the property.”
According to a 2004 article in The Lima News, Moulton Elementry closed May 27, 2004. During the final week, the school held an open house inviting present and previous students.
One student, Marjorie Stienecker, attended Moulton Elementry in 1937. Stienecker recalled in the article her days as a student.
“I was amazed because I had the same teacher in the one-room school that I had in the fourth grade, and she was great,” Stienecker said in the 2004 article. “We took the bus here, too. You never had to miss a day of school. We used to have to walk two miles to the one-room school and two miles back.”
Auglaize County commissioners will receive bids on Feb. 7 for demolition.
Reach Precious Grundy at 567-242-0351.
