Roosevelt Demo

Demolition has begun at the east end of the building.

Whats next on the demo list ? 

 

What happens when they run out of stuff to demolish ?

As of this afternoon. Hate to see it go.....went to Jr. High School at Roosevelt.

Vet....remember them all. Played some ball for Ralph back in those days. I did some digging around and found my 1961 Rotaro (Orator) yearbook. It's the only one from Roosevelt I have left. Don't know what happened to the others. This one has been damp at some point in time and is a little yellowed.

409- Think I still have the green covered and white covered Rotaro from Roosevelt. 7th grade (would have been 1961) and 8th I think. You remember a kid who played basketball named Jerry Birkheimer. Good friend and ex-neighbor of mine growing up on Grand. Haven't seen him in 40+ years.

Hey- Norris Music on First next to the old library. Took trumpet lessons there on Sat morning. "Shorty" Norris owned the place. Mr. Buck was the trumpet teacher. How about Goldflies (sp?) Music on Clinton by the intersection with 1st Ave? Remember most of the others and their locations that you have listed. There was a large number of shoe stores in the downtown area back then, weren't there?

Hatfield Coal next to Divers on 1st, wasn't it?

Where was Davidson Photo before they moved out to the Midd. Shopping Ctr? Bought alot of record albums there.

Many of these buildings still standing although vacant now.

Where was Matthews, Buckeye Paper, Stokes/ Bordens Dairy?

Remember heading down Central to the Community Store on the corner of Shafor and Central for some after school snacks and to socialize. Got some older kids to buy me some rum-soaked crooks to smoke. Nice sweet cigar.

Good times!

Birkheimer- yep, tall and thin- called him "Bird". Hung around with Danny Strickland.

Remember the Garden prefix when dialing the phone. Also the party lines where I use to interrupt the conversations by making smart a-- little comments while the people talked.

Meadowgold milk delivered in the yellow step vans and placed in the metal boxes on the porches. Had the paper inner/outer caps in the glass bottles.

Now you have me wondering what years my green and white (school colors at Roosevelt (the Teddies)) Rotaros are. ?????

Little bit of the old track around the football field left. In 9th grade pole vaulted in the area of the infield on your first picture upper left hand corner. Alot of Roosevelt/McKinley football rivalry games played on that field.

 

 

Wots, would you suggest that we continue to leave buildings standing that do not have any realistic use and cannot be modified in a cost effective manner because of wiring, etc? 

It's like the building of the new elementaries -- some people would rather pay for the constant upkeep of the old buildings and the exorbitant cost to wire it for computers, take care of mold, leaking roofs, etc. instead of spending the same or less for new buildings.  Plus the state kicked in most of the money. 

Pac and Bill- I understand your thinking on tearing down all these older buildings with no apparent use. I understand clearing the land for potential new development. One thing that is hard to explain here.

I won't speak for the other "long timers" like Mike or Spider, but as an older long time resident, who was born here, I have a hard time seeing these things go because they represent a better time for me here in town. They are "monuments" of a better time when the town was run correctly. When I drive down Central and glance over at Roosevelt (always was Jr. High to me), I remember good times. Same goes for The Jug, the downtown area (or what's left of it), old Middletown High (Vail now) the Middletown Shopping Center, going past the boyhood neighborhood on Grand around Kensington and Dorset, etc. Seeing these buildings/areas takes me back and (as corny as this sounds), puts a little smile on my face providing a little comfort...something that doesn't happen anymore for me. I realize this doesn't do the town any good, but it sure helps me seeing those when I'm a tad bit depressed. Yep, I admit to "living in the past" at times. That is where the comfort is, if only for a brief moment.