Can we have our school back? Nashville village wants elementary school building

Nashville Village Council President Brian Smith made a heartfelt plea to the West Holmes Local Schools Board of Education about the fate of the Nashville Elementary School and grounds once the district closes the outlying elementary schools.

"We came here to ask you if we can have our school back when you guys are done with it," he said at Monday evening's meeting. "In our area, we don't have a park for our kids. We don't have a gathering spot and we don't have a whole lot of infrastructure in the town.

"The school is an essential to it," he continued. "It's our ability to potentially grow our community, have gathering spots, use it as a community. Our parents, our grandparents and our great-grandparents went to that school."

Upon completion of a proposed kindergarten-grade five school building on the West Holmes High School campus, the four elementary buildings in the district − Millersburg, Killbuck, Lakeville and Nashville − would close.

Community coming together

Smith said the village has uses for the building, such as community gatherings and fellowship, fish fries, pot luck dinners, bringing back the car shows, homecomings and Friday night movies in the gym with family and friends or people passing through.

"We want it to be used for family-friendly fun," Smith said. "We want it to be a community center and we want it for our children."

Other uses include the trails through the woods to be maintained by the Boy Scouts, and for the community to have a walking spot. He also sees it as a potential for small business development to start building infrastructure for the village.

The gateway to Holmes County

"Nashville is the gateway to Holmes County, coming straight up state Route 39," Smith said. "We're 10 minutes from Loudonville, Shreve, Millersburg, and 20 minutes from Berlin. It's a huge traffic area. We really want to bring our community back together and the school is a huge way to do it.

"We have community support and people who are willing to help maintain the building, so it's not just on one person, or not just on the village," he continued.

He noted the importance of establishing a timeframe in order to pursue grant funding and he would like to get that conversation started.

Smith sees a governing body of eight to 12 people to help keep the workload fair and sustainable if people drop out or move away.

Similar situations in nearby communities

Holmesvillle Elementary School and Fredericksburg Elementary School recently were sold back to their villages at a substantially reduced rate.

Southeast Local Schools Assistant Superintendent Holly Mastrine confirmed Holmesville Elementary is being sold to the village, and Fredericksburg Elementary School is being sold to the fire department at a minimal cost.

"We're hoping for the same thing from you folks," Smith said. "Nashville built this school, we levied this school, and in 1917 the governor of Ohio came to Nashville to dedicate this school."

Smith knows this is just the beginning of the process and he appreciates the board giving him the time to speak to about the village's desire to take over operation of the building.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: West Holmes asked to return Nashville Elementary building to village