By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Old-fashioned math helped convince Wood County Park District officials that the historic one-room Zimmerman School should move to the historic Carter Farm.
After many discussions about moving the school north of Bowling Green to the farm down the road, the park board voted Tuesday to go ahead with the project.
Bids for moving the one-room school and for making repairs if it is left at its current location helped with the decision. The total cost for moving the structure is estimated at $73,950. Coupled with additional project costs like moving restrooms, sidewalk construction and demolishing the old foundation, the cost is set at $88,590.
The cost for leaving it at the corner of Nelson and Carter roads is estimated at $118,510. That cost includes replacing the old foundation, putting in a wider culvert, adding more parking and moving restrooms.
The board decided moving the old school made sense financially, and for park programming.
By moving the school, the district officials hope to save money and make the historic farm and one-room school a more all-inclusive learning experience for visiting families and school children.
The parking area at the Carter Farm needs expanding, regardless of whether or not the school moves to the site. The project, which will widen the culvert onto the property, is estimated at $11,900.
Because of the need to move the old brick school when the ground is most solid, the structure will probably not be moved till next year, according to Neil Munger, director of the Wood County Park District. The new foundation can be built this year so it is ready whenever the move takes place, he said.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, which was held at the W.W. Knight Preserve in Perrysburg Township, the park board accepted a bid of $53,826 to put in a parking lot at the Bradner Preserve. The board also approved a bid for $85,267 to expand the operations garage at the park district’s headquarters in Sugar Ridge.
