By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
South Main School has been a place of educating pupils, encouraging artistic talents, and exploring paranormal activity. History buffs in the city are hoping it has another life ahead of it.
The building at 437 S. Main St. in Bowling Green is for sale, and community members interested in preserving historic structures are hoping its future does not involve a bulldozer.
The school, which opened its doors to students in 1890, was built in the Tudor Revival style, characterized by its half-timbered gables, steeply sloped roof, and imposing arched entry door.
The building spent its first 115 years as a public school, with occasional additions and updates over a century. It then had a brief spin as a “common space” for artists, then became a setting for paranormal investigations, until that was shuttered in 2022.
For the last four years, the three-story brick building has sat empty.
Over those years, the Bowling Green Historic Preservation Commission has kept tabs on the building, occasionally contacting the owner in California. This past week, the commission learned that the 24,144-square-foot building and its former playground site are for sale, with an asking price of $349,000.
Bowling Green Planning Director Heather Sayler notified the commission of the listing by SVN Ascension Commercial Realty at https://svn-acre.com/properties/437-s-main-st-bowling-green-sale/.
The 136-year-old building has some obvious challenges – and undoubtedly some issues that haven’t yet been identified.
“Any building that has sat vacant for a while is going to have challenges,” Sayler said.
Perhaps the most costly issues with the old school are the existence of asbestos and the lack of accessibility, with no elevator.
But Sayler and HPC Chairperson John Sampen are hopeful.
“The Historic Preservation Commission would love to see someone save the building,” Sayler said.
“I’d love to see somebody take it over and do something with it,” Sampen said.
In communities across the nation, old school buildings are being converted into apartments, Sayler said.
“It would take the right person to see there’s an opportunity there,” she said. “There are examples all over Ohio. It would be nice to see it happen here,” Sayler said.
Such projects are often the recipients of state and federal tax credits, she added.
The current zoning for the property, which is close to the downtown, is mixed use neighborhood zoning. That classification’s permitted uses include: adult care facility, animal services, artisan manufacturing, barber or beauty shop, day spa, bed and breakfast inn, day care facility, food pantry, government services, group home, hotel, limited commercial uses, medical services, multi-unit dwelling, nursing home, passive green space, place of religious assembly, professional offices, recreation club, restaurant, retail sales or social services.
Conditional uses in that zoning classification include a bar or tavern, micro-brewery, boarding house or school.
South Main School history
After the original school was opened in 1890, five classrooms were added in this same style in 1927. The first elementary school cafeteria in Bowling Green was opened there in 1929, and in 1958, a gymnasium was added and the lavatories were improved.
In 2005, the school was closed due to declining enrollment and its deteriorating physical condition. The building had plumbing and electrical problems, was not handicapped accessible, and had inadequate storage, parking, and drop-off and playground space.
The board of education leased the building to the Arts Council Lake Erie West, which held open houses to get public input on best uses for the old school.
Soon the site became “South Main Common Space,” which housed a child care center, a school of martial arts, a dance and healing arts studio, an art gallery, and several artists’ studios. The Common Space also hosted music performances.
In late May 2011 the school board announced that South Main would be sold at auction.
The building was purchased by David Rosten of Newport Beach, California. In 2009, Fringe Paranormal Investigations had begun to investigate the school’s potential as a site for occult exploration. And in 2017, Fringe Associates LLC leased and took over management of the building in order to open the space to public and private investigations of the “hotbed of unexplained activity,” such as “phantom footsteps, strange noises, closing doors, and disembodied voices.”
In July 2022, Rosten asked Fringe Paranormal to vacate the building in anticipation of selling it. Additionally, the building had become practically unfit for occupancy, with further roof damage and no water service after pipes burst.
In 2024, the city’s Historic Preservation Commission heard an update on the possible rescue of the old school building. Bowling Green resident Rose Drain reported that a group of interested citizens had toured the building to examine the possibilities.
“It seems to be in fairly good shape,” except for some water damage in the gymnasium due to a leaky roof, Drain said at that point.
“It has very good bones and has a lot of possibilities,” she said.
At that point, Sayler had just returned from a Heritage Ohio Conference focusing on revitalizing historic buildings, and agreed the old school could have more life in it. She talked about several old schools in Ohio that have been transformed from shuttered unused buildings into loft type apartments or senior housing.
“If you have the passion, the will and the people to do it,” it’s possible to salvage historic buildings for residential uses, Sayler said, noting the success in other communities.
