The phrase “out with the old in with the new” is familiar to all of us. We don’t give it much thought when we throw out an old pair of shoes or a sweat shirt but how about a 57 year old building that contains early childhood memories for thousands of people and played such an important role in the future of Burlington?
In the next few months the new Memorial School will be dedicated and the old Memorial will be slated for demolition but before that happens, the Friends of the Memorial School would like you to take a walk down memory lane by visiting the lovable old pile of bricks on May 19 from 6 to 9 p.m.
As we say goodbye to the Memorial it might be worthwhile revisiting its arrival on the scene here in Burlington. The origin of its name comes from the times the community was in. In the early fifties the memories and wounds of World War II and the Korean Conflict were still very fresh in the minds of Burlington’s citizenry. Burlington’s sacrifice was quite astounding for a community of a few thousand.
Lost in both conflicts as well as 2 in WW I were the following men whose names grace the memorial plaque at the school, Kenneth a MacKenzie, Leonard L. Milligan WW I, James Bridgeo, Henry E. Crogan, Ernest J Everett, Harold D. Given, Alan H. Hann, Robert J. Harron, Everett L. Lovejoy Sr., Robert P. Miller, Wallace L. Oldford, James J. Plummer, Lennart A. Rabenius, Edward Ronayne and Lawrence G. White in WWII and William Hurley in the Korean War.
Sadly, other names of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice will be added to the plaque at the new Memorial. Lost in Viet Nam were 6 more Burlington residents, including several that attended the Memorial School. Those young men were James Ludwig, Gilford Dashner, William Campbell, Harry Wallace, Paul McGinness and Richard Harper. Unfortunately, Burlington’s young men have not been spared from current conflict either as Gregory E. MacDonald was lost in Iraq.
There are many obvious differences in the times between 1954 and today in all walks of life; one very striking is the finances of building a new school. According to the program printed for the Memorial dedication ceremonies, here are a couple of financial facts regarding the building of the school. The town meeting actually approved the building of the school in 1952 and appropriated ten thousand dollars to “obtain options on land for sites, architect fees and the like.”
In January 1953 the town meeting subsequently overwhelmingly voted to appropriate the grand sum of $675,000 to “construct and equip the school as recommended.” By contrast, today’s new Memorial will come in around 25.4 million dollars!
The school was built to alleviate the need for double sessions. The problem was that Burlington was simply growing too fast. The Memorial was built to house 600 students; the first day population was 650. On that day in 1954 the total school age population was 1040 students yet by 1957 the elementary school population alone was 1427.
As time went on, the town did its best to respond to the school age demands and by 1960 had added both the Wildwood and Meadowbrook. This was still not enough as by 1964 even with the addition of the Pine Glen School the growth was so substantial as to require the adding on of portable buildings at the Memorial. The pressure continued to build on the higher grades as the elementary populations moved higher again precipitating the need for double sessions even though the town had added on a new high school in 1961.
The Memorial played a key role in this enormous growth not just from an education stand point. The Memorial School building committee was a veritable who’s who of Burlington leadership in the early fifties. The committee was chaired by Albert Wilde with Elmer J. Morrison, Mabel Keating, Gerald Seminatore, Kenneth Maciver , Charles McGinnis and Alfred Blouin as members. The lessons learned in the Memorial construction were quickly put to use in the construction of 5 more brand new schools in the ensuing years. It is unlikely that Burlington will ever be confronted with such a construction and educational challenge in the future.
So come on by on May 19 between 6 and 9 p.m. and relive some memories and pay respect to the venerable old school which has played such a significant role in the growing up of Burlington.
