SOMERVILLE -- When a school closes in a neighborhood or small town, it leaves a hole in the community -- a cultural void.
People know about that in this northern Butler County village. Since the late 1970s, when the old Somerville School closed, the town has missed the action. Any action.
Now the council members want to use the former elementary school as a community center for young people and the elderly.
"Elderly people need a place to socialize, maybe to play bingo or whatever," said Vice Mayor Shari Bowling. "Of course, the kids also need a place to go. The school seems a logical choice for us to open such a place.
"We're a half-hour's drive from just about anywhere we go. We're sort of in between Oxford, Hamilton, Eaton and other towns that offer some activities."
Already, the village uses the school as a gathering spot. It is the community fallout shelter and council meeting place. Ms. Bowling and others have been repainting the interior, which recently was damaged by vandals.
Butler County sheriff's deputies also use a room for an office when they're patrolling the rural north.
"It makes us feel safe. They're always welcome." Mayor Helen Gabbard said.
To pay for renovation, council has applied for an $87,000 Community Development Block Grant from the federal government.
"We hope to have the school refurbished and up and running over the next five years," Mrs. Gabbard said.
She remembers when the school was a jewel of the town. She attended classes there through grade eight.
Ms. Bowling said she envisions a game room and other activities in the building. "The gym was in bad shape, so council decided to rent it to an auctioneer to generate money to fix it up," she said. She said the school could be a sports-recreation focal point. "We're just a tiny town, population 300 at the most, and we've never had anything to keep the kids busy," she said.
She said the school's closing in about 1979 left Somerville without a gathering place; and after a few years, even kids' baseball teams vanished.
So Ms. Bowling and Councilman Tim Moore went door-to-door to seek support for new teams, which they organized this spring. Two ball diamonds are near the school, off Bulldog Drive.
"Its name came from the Somerville Bulldogs baseball team of years ago," Mrs. Gabbard said. "Baseball was important here once."
