ALPENA — Alpena Public Schools houses its students in far fewer buildings than in years past, but almost all of those large buildings have been put to other uses.

Over the years, seven of the district’s elementary schools — Avery, Baldwin, Bingham, Hubbard Lake, Long Rapids, Maple Ridge, and McPhee — have closed amid declining enrollment and budget constraints. None of those buildings are now owned by the district.

Sunset Elementary School, which the district still owns, closed at the end of the 2009-10 school year, but reopened last school year for homeschool students to use. There are no APS students housed in the building.

While three of the former elementary school buildings have been demolished, three are being used for other purposes, including commercial businesses and a church. Just one is sitting vacant, but plans are in the works for that building, too.

Alpena Superintendent John VanWagoner said the district believes it’s important to keep elementary schools open throughout the county.

“Keeping elementary bus rides as short as possible is an important factor,” VanWagoner said.

OLD BUILDINGS

St. Paul Lutheran Church in Hubbard Lake purchased the old Hubbard Lake Elementary School in 2007, four years after the district closed the building’s doors. The school had an enrollment of 122 students its last year open.

The purchase included the building and 20 acres. The church held a grand opening on Jan. 4, 2009 after getting the building up to code.

Ossineke’s Larry Dewar, a trustee with the church, said the church purchased the property because it was better geographically for church members. Its old location was on Wolf Creek Road in Herron.

Plus, “we like having the extra room,” Dewar said.

Dewar said a lot of church members, including him, attended the elementary school in the 1950s. He said it’s different attending church instead of school there, but says it brings back old memories.

The church added a sanctuary in 2012, which eliminated some classrooms. Dewar said that made the church feel more like a church and less like a school.

“We had to bring it up to code, because it was under the school code, so we had to pay for that,” Dewar said.

Long Rapids Elementary School, located on Long Rapids Road near M-65 in Lachine, closed after the 2009-10 school year after 50 years.

The building was purchased in 2016 by a firm called Northern Promotions, a company that produces custom frames and framed artwork. Owner Kevan Rogers did not respond to messages seeking comment.

A News article from 2017 said the classrooms and gym were transformed into a production facility for shelf-ready pictures and accessories. A separate building was added to increase the business’ productivity.

Maple Ridge Elementary School, located on Dietz Road in Maple Ridge Township, closed in 2004. The school had an enrollment of 124 students its last school year.

The school is now Scarecrow Village-The Ridge, which is open two Saturdays every October as a haunted house. Owners Jake and Sandy Reebel declined to comment for this story.

Bingham Elementary School, located at the corner of McKinley Avenue and South 5th Avenue, closed and became Bingham Arts Academy, a charter school established under Bay Mills Community College in 2004 for kindergarten to fifth grade. That closed at the end of the 2014-15 school year after more than a decade.

City property records show the building has changed hands several times over the years and is now owned by a firm called Dargis Properties.

The building is sitting vacant now, but the Alpena Planning Commission voted in August to rezone the property so a developer can renovate the building to open a senior living complex.

Several old schools have been demolished, including the old Alpena High School straddling South 1st and South 2nd avenues, and Avery, Baldwin, and McPhee elementaries.

BUILDINGS STILL OPEN

APS currently has 10 schools open and running: Besser, Ella White, Hinks, Lincoln, Sanborn, Sunset, and Wilson elementaries, Thunder Bay Junior High School, Alpena High School, and Alternative Choices for Educational Success Academy.

VanWagoner said there are no current plans to close any buildings.

“That is based upon our county birth rates and current elementary school enrollments,” VanWagoner said.

Sunset Elementary closed at the end of the 2009-10 school year because of declining enrollment and budget constraints. After sitting vacant for eight years, the district reopened the school last year for homeschool students to take classes.

The district continued the homeschool program this school year. The Northeast Michigan Community Service Agency also is using most of the building for its preschool program, VanWagoner said.

Julie Goldberg can be reached at 989-358-5688 or jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jkgoldberg12.