Goodbye, Elida Elementary

Part 1 – Saying Goodbye – I’m not in this picture, but this is what it looks like when Elida teachers say goodbye to their kids when the year’s over. It was taken 3 years ago, in 2018. I thought it was a good way to begin a post that’s about saying goodbye. 

This used to be the front of the old Elida Elementary. I moved in after I left Gomer in 1999. I said goodbye when I retired in 2015.
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I’ve been back twice to visit, but it’s not the same. I’m part of the past. I don’t belong now. It was a strange feeling the 1st time, but life moves on, for me too.

Elida Elementary was a huge building. I could only find the three biggest pieces to show you. This picture is of the two-story section. One wing stood in front. The other behind it.

I had three different rooms at Elida. I started in the front wing, on the second floor. It was a room without a view, and my least favorite. The second floor is always hotter!
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I finished in the back wing, on the first floor. I had a great view of the playground. I liked that room a lot. It was way cooler!

​This is the one-story section. My 2nd room was in this wing. I was finally in the front, two classrooms from the door. I never wanted to leave! It was my favorite room . . .  cool, with a great view.

Part 2 – The Road to Demolition, To a New Building
Sunday, September 8, 2019 was groundbreaking literally, for the new Elida Elementary. Can you see the playground in that first picture? It takes time to build a new school, and to tear down the old one. 

​It took 2 years to build the new Elementary. But the old Elida kept going. It taught kids reading, writing and arithmetic, just like it’d been doing since it opened in 1962.

​The demolition crew began tearing down the old elementary on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. This is the back wing. It’s where I spent my last years at Elida.

It’s sad to see my building disappear into a pile of rubble. It stood tall for 59 years, and now it’s gone, like the other buildings from my past. Only two survived demolition. One’s an apartment building for seniors. The other is now a middle school, instead of a high school.

This is the brand new, big, beautiful Elida Elementary complete with new technology and air conditioning. Here’s to all the teachers and students who fill its halls today, and in the years to come.

Information & Photo Sources
Ground broken for new Elida Elementary school - The Lima News (limaohio.com)
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Memories fade: Demolition of old Elida Elementary begins - The Lima News (limaohio.com)

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