Last-Minute Grant May Save 1906 School
By Margaret Foster | Online Only | July 28, 2010
1906 Foland School, Iowa
Credit: Sharon Becker
An Iowa resident trying to save the schoolhouse built by her great-great grandfather won an 11th-hour grant today.
Sharon Becker was told by Kellerton, Iowa, officials that she had until the end of July to raise $15,000 to move the Foland School. She learned today that she had won a $10,000 emergency grant from the State Historical Society of Iowa.
"I am so excited. This has been a long, hard battle," says Becker, who lives in Osceola, Iowa, about 40 minutes away.
The Foland School was built by her maternal great-grandfather, Michael Foland, on one corner of his farm. The family later sold the building to a nearby school district, which used it as a music room before donating it to Kellerton in the 1990s. Filled with historic photographs and other school memorabilia, the building was vandalized several years ago, so the town boarded it up. Last fall, the city council decided to do something about the school, according to city councilmember Janet Holmes.
"It's an upkeep and maintenance problem," Holmes says.
Becker has expressed concern that the council might sell the school site to the owner of an adjacent bar, but Holmes says the council has not made a final ruling on the property.
"There's no decision on what's going to be done with the building if she doesn't get the money," Holmes says.
Becker has raised $3,000 for the Foland School, not including the grant. She still needs to raise $3,000 more, but thinks she can meet that goal.
"I promised my mom, whose great-grandfather built it," Becker says. "When she saw the condition of it last August, I gave her a hug and promised I'd get it restored."
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