Story Credit: Caitlyn Yamada, The Sioux City Journal
Crescent Park Elementary School felt like home to many former teachers and students.
The old school was opened up one last time on Tuesday for a final walkthrough before the building is demolished. Numerous former students and teachers took the opportunity to see their former classrooms and recall their time spent at the school.
The former Crescent Park Elementary School, 114 W. 27th St., was purchased by Koskovich & Murphy Developments of Sioux City to be demolished and construct one or two, three-story market-rate apartment buildings. The district will officially hand over the building on March 6.
This year was the first school year the Crescent Park building has been empty since it was built in 1920, said Sue Mullin, a former Crescent Park teacher.
The school closed in 2016 when Perry Creek Elementary opened, combining students from Crescent Park, Lincoln and Clark elementary schools. After, it housed Byrant Elementary and Hunt Elementary students while those new buildings were being completed.People who toured the building Tuesday pointed out their former classrooms, where the library was, memories related to different classrooms and their overall excitement about having attended the school.
On Tuesday, Mullin brought a few mementos and spent time visiting all of her old classrooms and recalling fond memories with former coworkers. The overall feeling in the building was one of nostalgia.
One common favorite part of Crescent Park was the hundreds of colorful handprints lining the walls. A tradition that started decades before the school closed, students would put painted handprints with their names on the walls at the end of the school year. The handprints were painted over in 2016 before Bryant moved in.
Mullin and Pat Bennett, a former Crescent Park speech pathologist, both retired on the same day in 2016 when the school closed. Mullin had worked at Crescent Park for 32 years and Bennett for 30 years.
They both said the school felt like home.
Bennett said a group of former teachers are still friends. They helped each other through marriages, kids, deaths, celebrations and more while working at Crescent Park.
Read the rest of the story on the Sioux City Journal website.
