Forum Flashbacks: Sept. 14-20
FORUM FILE PHOTO
25 YEARS AGO: Field Day – Maddie Myers, right, a North Nodaway fourth grader, puts soil on a card so she can examine the different layers of soil. Rick Douglas, district conservationist for Natural Resources Conservation Service instructed the soil group Wednesday at the conservation day at Nodaway Lake. The event was also conducted Thursday.
25 years ago
The proposed multi-purpose building at Northeast Nodaway is the first step in a plan to unite the district’s facilities in one location in Ravenwood.
The one-site facility was determined as one of the district’s long-range goals during the regular meeting of the Board of Education Thursday night.
Superintendent Steve Thompson presented a list of district, facility and educational goals for the board to review and discuss. Several patrons attended the meeting to offer their input on the goals and ask questions about the current bond proposal for a multi-purpose building. …
The proposed multi-purpose building would have a gym with seating for 1,000, storage space and eating room for the cafeteria.
The multipurpose building will tie in the new and old wings of the high school, school board president Kenny Runde said. At present, the two buildings are not connected. …
When asked why the current bond did not include a proposal to build elementary classrooms in Ravenwood, board member Dean Adwell explained that the district’s bonding capacity of $1.3 million was not enough to build everything at once.
If the multipurpose building is approved, the old gym would not be torn down so it could be used by the elementary students when they are moved to the facility. …
Several patrons said the district needed to plan for moving the elementary to Ravenwood because of the increased savings by having only one facility. Thompson presented enrollment projects which indicated the district would have 20 less students within three years, which would mean less state funding for the district.
Preliminary steps toward merging into one facility have been taken this year. The sixth grade has been moved to Ravenwood.
In addition, all the food is now cooked in Ravenwood and transported to Parnell. Thompson said the new method is very efficient. Three part-time positions, one at Parnell and two at Ravenwood, were eliminated with the change.
A refrigerator and range are still in the kitchen at the elementary school. The students are served in the gymnasium and the former cafeteria is used for classrooms.
50 years ago
According to the unofficial count, the Nodaway County Public Center was defeated by only four votes.
The measure, which required a two-thirds majority for approval received 1,413 votes for the measure and 713 against. For passage, a total of 1,417 votes would have been required.
The vote will be canvassed Friday to obtain an official result. Supporters of the measure hold little hope for a turnabout after the canvass and are exploring options still available to make the Center a reality.
Action has been slowed, however, by the fact that all of the Nodaway County Court judges are presently at a convention in Jefferson City. A spokesman for the measure’s supporters said that pending a legal opinion, a possibility exists that voters could directly petition the Court who could be empowered to institute the Center in spite of the vote.
If this avenue fails, the spokesman said, it will be necessary to repetition the measure and then resubmit the measure to the voters.
117 years ago
NORMAL SOON TO BUILD
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LOCATE STEAM POWER PLANT
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The foundation walls for the main building of the Maryville state normal school are to be put in so soon as the contract for the work can be let, and advertisements calling for bids on this undertaking are to be published at once.
This action was decided on Friday at a meeting of the board of regents of the normal school. J. A. Williams of Savannah, W. D. Rusk of St. Joseph, J. C. Tracy of Mound City, A. H. Vandiver of Bethany, W. T. Carrington of Jefferson City and C. J. Colden of Maryville were the members of the board participating in the meeting, William Rankin of Tarkio being absent.
J. H. Felt of Kansas City, the school architect, was also in attendance. He had with him the main building plans, which had been perfected in detail after having been inspected last month by the board.
Bids for Main Building, Too.
…It is contemplated in the plans that this main structure shall cost in the neighborhood of $300,000. The building is after the Tudor type of architecture, and is to stand on the eminence just northwest of the home of the school president.
This site for the building is the highest point of ground in the normal school tract, and commands a fine view of the surrounding country, as well as of the city of Maryville.
Northeast of the main building will be erected the power plant for heating the school buildings. The site selected for the plant is a depression in the tract, which will take the smaller building out of the general arrangement of the grounds.
Elaborate Plans for Grounds.
Plans for landscape gardening were also adopted by the board, the details calling for an elaborate system of driveways, walks, groves, hedges and flower beds.
During the forenoon of Friday the regents visited the normal school grounds and were much pleased with the appearance of the site.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The 50- year and 100-year flashbacks are courtesy of the Missouri Digital Newspaper Project from the State Historical Society of Missouri, viewable at shsmo.newspapers.com. The original 50-year article ran in the Sept. 19, 1973, issue of The Maryville Daily Forum. The original 117-year article ran in the Sept. 7, 1906, issue of The Maryville Daily Tribune, which later would become The Maryville Forum.
