Mother Nature shed tears of warm, steady drizzle Wednesday morning as construction crews began demolishing an iconic landmark in the heart of Brookings. After 67 years of service to the Brookings School District, the original Hillcrest Elementary building is no more.
Its a bittersweet day, Hillcrest Principal Shannon Smith said. If the walls could talk, my goodness, this place would be buzzing today. Its been heartwarming to be here today to see all of the different community members that have stopped by to share stories. When they made their first push into the building this morning at eight oclock, the streets were lined with people sharing stories, and that was pretty neat to hear and be a part of.
Students at both Hillcrest and Medary elementary schools said goodbye to their old buildings on May 15, and the Brookings School District is in the process of putting up new structures at both sites. The demolition work at Medary began May 22.
Following an architects report in 2021, the Brookings School Board moved to demolish both buildings and rebuild at both sites after hearing modernizing or adding to the old building could prove problematic. After a successful bond vote district voters approved in the summer of 2022, with 3,302 yes votes and 1,451 no votes both projects moved forward.
For this building, we had to do asbestos abatement, and so theres just some structural things that we needed to really evaluate, Smith said. And then also, thinking future things, like if a boiler were to go down because the facility is as old as it is, the only way to really do maintenance and replace any big things would be to demolish it in order to get it in, because the building was kind of built around those kinds of items.
Its hard for the Brookings community, because this is the first time schools have ever been demolished, said Smith. Weve always been able to repurpose them. And so, the neat thing for us here is were on the same site, and so this space will actually turn into green space for the kids.
Before demolition work began, school staff organized a rummage sale to help reuse surplus items and raise money for both the Hillcrest PTA and the school district.
Our Hillcrest staff took two and a half days. They were rock stars, Smith said. They moved about thirty-eight thousand square feet of materials, supplies, and furniture all into the new building. Its held in common spaces right now. So we were able to save a lot of the things from Hillcrest. We also did a surplus sale, where community members were able to come in and purchase some things as well. The ReStore came in and re-purposed a lot of the things that were sold at the surplus sale as well. So there is a lot of community that has been able to benefit from Hillcrest.
The repurpose work isnt finished yet, either.
Well actually be selling bricks from the building through the Brookings School Foundation. Theyll be engraved with the times of Hillcrest as well, said Smith. So those will be available for purchase as soon as were done with this process. Thatll be posted through our website and then also through the Hillcrest Elementary School Facebook page.
One special part of the Hillcrest landscape couldnt be salvaged, though: the big tree that had stood near the playground areas. But Smith said theyll be honoring the tree with a display in the new building.
The big tree was a very big deal in the Hillcrest park with all of the memories that families and students, past and present, have, said Smith. And so in the media center, the back part of it is trunk of the tree, and then the ceiling effects are all of the leaves of the tree, with blue painted for the sky. And it has textured wallpaper in there, too. We couldnt bring the big tree with us, but well put all of that in the new building. And then the mural from our current building will also go up in our new building, too.
Staff also worked to salvage a time capsule students put together and buried back in the 1980s.
The time capsule was in the front of the building, Smith said. It has been unearthed, but it has not been opened. It was buried in 1989, and its not to be opened until 2039. And so, it is all intact. Nothing has been opened. We have a display case in the new building, so itll actually be going into that display case. And then in 2039, well do a very nice time capsule ceremony to be able to finish that process.
She said theyd also like to create a new time capsule this fall to commemorate the beginning of a new chapter of Hillcrest history.
Were going to do a time capsule to start that new building, said Smith. And then, were actually going to do some tiles. So all of the students who start that inaugural year at our new school, theyre going to make tiles that will then hang in the hallway. Well put it together kind of like a mural.
Smith said everything is on schedule with both the demolition of the old building and the construction of the new. They hope to have teachers and staff move into the new Hillcrest by Aug. 26, and doors will open to students on Sept. 3. The new building will still carry the Hillcrest name.
Same address, same phone number, same great people. said Smith. Its been that small, close-knit, community feel and were excited to continue that tradition in the new building. Were really focused on relationships with our families and with the community as well. We took all the people with us. Its just the framework will be a little different.
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