Freedom Township’s historic one-room schoolhouse is in line for a makeover.
Portage County commissioners recently approved a contract that will make the structure at 7276 State Route 303 more accessible to people with disabilities.
Judy Thornton, president of the Freedom Township Historical Society, said the plans are to add two handicapped parking spaces and connect them to a donated chairlift that is by the back door. People currently park in a grassy area on the east side of the building.
“There’s just no good parking there,” Thornton said. “There’s no way I could easily get a wheelchair out of a van and through the grass to the lift, so this cement project will provide the parking that will enable a wheelchair to be rolled right up to that lift, and then the cement sidewalk will connect that with the steps on the front side.”
Thornton also hopes to replace the crumbling cement steps with new cement.
There’s no word on when construction will begin. The project is in the architectural stage, led by TMA Architects, which was awarded the $6,800 contract.
The schoolhouse, known as Schoolhouse #2 in Drakesburg, is one of eight that once served township residents in the 1800s and is one of only three still standing. Children were educated there from 1874 to 1914, according to information provided by the township historical society.
The school originally faced west, but when it was repurposed in the early 1940s as a church, one of the congregations dug out a basement to use for Sunday School classrooms, Thornton said. They turned the church 90 degrees so it was facing Route 303 and raised the ground floor, necessitating the stairs.
People continued to worship at the former schoolhouse until 2000, though at one time it was also used as a sheep shed. Then it became a residential property for a short time until the owners simply walked away, the historical society’s website reports.
The township acquired the structure and grounds in 2018, and the township trustees repurposed the building once again. It is now used as the historical society’s museum, which includes a one-room schoolhouse exhibit, and for small meetings and community events, Thornton said.
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.