By Diane Smith
Record-Courier staff writer
PARIS " If you look closely, you can still see a few traces left of the students who once inhabited the halls of the old Paris school.
The bookshelves that once held schoolbooks for children a generation ago still remain. A wall of brick marks the spots where chalkboards once stood. And a piece of net still hangs from a basketball hoop.
But the gym where the hoops stand is missing most of its roof, and all of its floor. A previous owner who used the building for light manufacturing cut a hole out of the brick wall to make way for a door. And many of the windows have been broken and boarded up.
The architect who owns the building has high hopes of renovating the structure, putting loft apartments in the former classrooms for himself, his father and others, and putting his architecture studio in the gym. But even he admits it will be a costly project, and the redevelopment project isn't moving along as quickly as township trustees would like.
Joseph Bodnar bought the former Paris Township School in 2004, shortly after a magistrate ordered demolition of the building, stating that it was a fire hazard. The demolition order was halted when Bodnar bought the building at the corner of S.R. 225 and Newton Falls Road, about 10 miles east of Ravenna, and proposed locating up to six loft apartments in the structure.
"As an architect, I've always had a vision of aquiring an older structure, like a school or a post office, and doing some kind of substantial investment in restoration or adaptive re-use," he said. "I think as an architect, I have a responsibility to save part of my past."
Bodnar said after buying the building, he was immediately faced with several large obstacles, which he outlined to trustees recently.
Workers removed 130 yards of debris, some stacked up almost to the ceiling of some rooms, from the structure. Some went out through the overhead door placed in the gym by someone who once used the building for manufacturing. Other items went out through a "grain elevator" system Bodnar bought from a local farmer, and used to get debris out of the former cafeteria area and out the front of the building.
Spools of wire, junk vehicles and other types of debris were removed from the yard, and a brush hog was brought in to remove dead shrubbery. The result was a mowable lawn, which Bodnar and his father mow regularly.
He also restored the roof on the old bus garage and restored that building so he has a place to store his lawn equipment.
But the historic building, constructed in 1913, remains the "problem child," he acknowledged.
When Bodnar bought the building, there was about two feet of water standing in the lowest level of the structure. The water is gone, but the concrete floor in that area is still bowed and cracked. Bondar noted that the restrooms are in that area, and suspects an underground pipe filled with groundwater and froze, cracking the concrete.
Some windows are broken, although Bodnar has taken pains to make the building secure.
The gymnasium by far presents the biggest challenge. The tar roof over the gym was not properly maintained, and over time, the steel supports rusted and gave way. The stage is still standing, but the wooden stairs appear weak. At some point, the floor was damaged and discarded by a previous owner. It has a courtyard-type feel, with grass growing on the ground and tree branches overhead.
But with an architecht's vision, Bodnar paints a picture of what the building could be. He beams with pride as he shows off the unique closet doors in some rooms where children once stored their coats. He points past the damaged drop ceiling tiles to point to the plaster ceilings overhead " way overhead.
"Look at that," he says. "Thirteen foot high ceilings. Somebody put these drop ceiling tiles in to save on heating costs."
In the damaged gymnasium, he hopes to create an architectural studio with an Italian flair and a green color scheme. Because he enjoyed playing basketball as a teen, he hopes to leave at least one hoop intact.
Trustee Tom Smith said the structure is the biggest concern, and has been since the fire marshal indicated that the building was a hazard.
"The building was condemned as structurally unsafe, and nothing has been done to make that go away," he said. "I think we need to see some kind of progress on the school building itself. We appreciate the work on the garage, but the garage was never the issue."
Bodnar points out that he faced a monumental task just ridding the property and building of debris and recycling 12,000 tons of steel. Now comes the complex part, where he obtains bids and surveys to determine how much aesbestos remains in the bowels of the building and hiring "selective demolition" crews to remove what needs to be removed, without causing damage.
He acknowledged that the project is "an expensive project at best." Though it probably would be cheaper to demolish the gymnasium, he said, that "doesn't fit my vision for this."
"Part of the green building movement is to restore buildings like this and keep them out of the landfill," he said.