End of an era: Fairborn offering tours of schools scheduled for demolition

Anyone who wants to say goodbye to the old Palmer-South building in Fairborn will get a chance to this month.

Fairborn schools will host tours of the old Fairborn Intermediate school from 6-8 p.m. on July 16 and 4-6 p.m. on July 18.

The building will be demolished to make way for a new intermediate school.

RELATED: New $27M Fairborn Primary building nearly complete

Fairborn native Amber Brunson started kindergarten at that building, located at 25 Dellwood Drive, in 1996. Some of her most vivid memories were made in that building, and she plans to go on one of the tours to say goodbye. She said she has also talked to many classmates who plan to attend.

“It’s my entire childhood,” Brunson said. “I remember playing with friends on the playground and I remember hearing we were getting a new classmate from Germany or Japan. I have friends all over the world that I made at Palmer South.”

Brunson said she met her best friend in the first grade in Ms. Stewart’s class. They are still friends to this day.

Brunson said the building is where she was when 9/11 happened, and she remembers taking a giant flag photo with kids from all the different grades in the days after.

“Those halls hold so many memories for me,” Brunson said.

Fairborn City Schools Superintendent Gene Lolli said that the district wanted to give anyone who wants to see the building an opportunity to walk through it one more time.

“The community has shown us a lot of support in building a new intermediate and primary school, so we wanted to show support back,” Lolli said.

All visitors will have to wear masks and social distance.

Due to construction, people attending the tours will have to enter using Dellwood Drive. There will be no entrance from South Maple Street.

RELATED: Construction of two Fairborn schools on track

Intermediate students will learn in the old primary school building until the new Intermediate School is built.

The new intermediate school, which will cost about $24 million to built and be 103,163-square-feet, will be completed by the fall of 2022.

The new primary school will be ready for students in August.

This new $27.3 million primary school will replace a 60-year-old building at 4 W. Dayton-Yellow Springs Road. The new 130,000-square-feet building is two stories tall.

The new intermediate school will hold grades three, four and five. Both the primary and intermediate schools will hold about 1,200 students.

Brunson said she is curious to see the two new schools completed.

“That’s the future of our town,” she said.

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