Collection: Directories and Documents > Historical Clippings

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Title: Historical Clippings Book (HC-11) Collection Type: Directories and Documents Collection Name: Historical Clippings Catalog #: HC-11 # of Pages: 314 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

Printed or handwritten: Mixed printed/handwritten Date Scanned: 2025-01-07 15:12:13 Scanned By: Erik Caruso Scanning Equipment: CZUR Book Scanner OCR Software Version #: tesseract 5.5.0 Item Sourced From: JPGs First Created: 2025-03-17 03:19:14 Last Updated: 2025-03-17 03:19:14

Original Held At: Searls Historical Library Location: 161 Nevada City Hwy, Nevada City, CA 95959

Page: of 314  

New life for old school in North Columbia By SUSAN WOLBARST Of The Union Staff ‘The dilapidated building with a sagging roof and peeling paint is gone. What replaced it is the North Columbia Schoolhouse Cultural Center, a tidy refurbished structure with a coat of dazzling white paint and dark green trim. “Part of the community's response is that it really feels good because it’s been brought back to life,’’ says Jeff Gold, one of the architects who worked on the restoration. “A successul restoration is not necessarily keeping things exactly the way they were, but respecting the place so that contemporary people can meet there.”’ Gold’s partner, Bruce Boyd, adds, “Buildings die if they're not used. Look at (Old) Seven Hills School. This building was condemned by the state at one time, just like that one, and they’re both immanently restorable.” Located about eight miles east of North San Juan, the former schoolhouse is a beehive of activity. Owned by Mary Joan Campbell, who lives across the street, the Cultural Center houses about 70 classes a month as well as performances and otheractivities. Teachers and others’ using the building are charged fees according to a sliding scale, and non-profit groups can rent the center by the hour. Fold and Boyd, who’ve put about $10,000 into the restoration project, have an office upstairs. ‘‘We more or less manage it. It takes a trust relationship in a_ privately-owned building. There’s a shared benefit, shared.use of the building,” Gold says. About another $20,000 worth of labor has been ah the community, he SAYS. > The Union The actual restoration project. is “about halfway complete,’’ according to Gold. Handicapped access, rebuilding of the rear of the building — including bathrooms, rebuilding the belltower to its original style and completion of a perimeter stone foundaiton wall remain for the future. “Part of the restoration is to secure a use permit for the community center and our office,” he says. Stefanie Freydont, director of the center, is hoping that people using the former schoolhouse will become members by paying $10 a person or $25 for family memberships. “There’s nothing else like this in Nevada County,” she said. The building cost $3,000 when it was originally constructed in 1875. Since then, it has been used as both a school and a community center. It was purchased by the Coughlan family for $100 in the 1930's. ‘ Te VIG EY, Although condemned by the state six years ago for not being earthquakeproof, it was used as an emergency school in the late 1970’s, when fire destroyed the San Juan ridge community’s newly-built Oak Tree School. Brothers Jimmy and Francis Coughlan watched the beginning of the restoration process, but died before the refurbished community center opened to the public. At 96, Jimmy was the school’s oldest known living alumnus. Francis was 86 when he died. Their niece, Mary Campbell, once taught school at North Columbia Schoolhouse. Volunteer work on the restoration was done by a group known as the Cherokee Labor Brigade, headed by poet Gary Snyder. Snyder is also on the . Cultural Center’s Board of Directors, with Jonathan Keehn, Mike Getz, Steve Sanfield, Don Dachler and Shelley Dachler.