Centennial School open house stirs memories

Laughter, conversation and memories filled the empty Centennial School building on Monday, as people wandered its halls during an open house Monday, March 30.

The Salem-Keizer School Board approved selling the 133-year-old building after determining the site is no longer useful as a school due to its size, age, and proximity to Forest Ridge Elementary School.

Papers handed out at the open house showed an asking price of $1.5 million for the 1.9-acre property.

The event allowed prospective buyers to tour the property, and also gave former staff, students, and community members a final chance to walk through the old school.

Several attendees said the school looked roughly the same as it had when they were there. They said the school brought back memories, and some described it as a reunion.

“It’s really fun to come back,” said Nina Bassett-Smith, a former student. She described memories of a storm that caused a power outage, and teachers’ reactions to President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

Built in 1892, the former Clear Lake Elementary School served over 100 students in grades one through eight during the 1950s. The building was renamed Centennial after a new Clear Lake Elementary was built in 1994.

Now adults, former students walked through the halls and classrooms, pointing out where they used to have reading nooks, touring the basement where they played instruments and recalling the play structures they used at recess.

One key memory described by some former teachers, principals and students was a visit to the school by the crusty Washington man, Harry Truman, just before the eruption of Mount St. Helens in May 1980. Truman, who operated a resort on the flanks of the mountain, died in the eruption.

Students in Scott Torgeson’s blended fourth and fifth-grade class had written letters to Truman when he drew national attention by refusing to leave his home near the volcano. In a story picked up by National Geographic, Torgeson said Truman came to the school via a helicopter that landed in the school yard.

The school memorialized Truman with an award named for him, Torgeson said, that drew Truman’s family members when honoring the kids.

“This place was a very special grade school,” Torgeson said. “We knew the whole community; everybody knew everyone. We were really fortunate to work here.”

Realtors working to sell the Centennial School hosted an open house on Monday, March 30. The district decided to sell the building last year. (KRISTA KROISS/Keizertimes)

Dustin Zielinski points out where play structures used to be at the Centennial School during an open house on Monday, March 30. Formerly Clear Lake Elementary School, the Salem-Keizer School District is selling the building. (KRISTA KROISS/Keizertimes)

Dustin Zielinski, former student, shows an item from his days attending the Centennial School, known as Clear Lake at the time, during an open house on Monday, March 30. Zielinksi brought a folder with photos and writings from before the school’s closure. (KRISTA KROISS/Keizertimes)

Debbie Davenport holds a poster of Harry Truman, who died during after refusing to leave is home near Mount St. Helens prior to its 1980 eruption. Truman visited Clear Lake students in the days before the mountain’s eruption. (KRISTA KROISS/Keizertimes)

People wander the basement of the Centennial School during an open house on Monday, March 30. Former students and staff said the basement used to be the music room. (KRISTA KROISS/Keizertimes)

NEWS TIP? Contact reporter Krista Kroiss at [email protected].

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