SPANISH FORK — If walls could talk, Rees Elementary School's classrooms would stand witness to more than eight decades of change. Years of changing fashions and teaching styles were seen inside the walls of the 83-year-old building in the Nebo School District.
Now, the old building at 185 E. 400 North, is facing permanent closure, and the children who play in its hallways could be shuttled to another school as soon as next year.
Nebo spokeswoman Frances Larsen said Rees is too old to use as a school and may be demolished.
There has been some tentative talk, though, of using the building for a museum or for Spanish Fork's Chamber of Commerce offices, she said.
"It's not worth salvaging for a school," she said.
Nebo School District's Board of Education this week voted to buy land in northeast Spanish Fork to possibly use as a replacement for the aging school.
The board voted to buy 24 acres on 400 North — about 1 mile down the road from where Rees now stands — after a committee of parents recommended the site for the new location.
Not all of the $720,000 land would be used for a new building, which will be funded with money from a $45 million general-obligation bond issue approved by voters May 2.
The board has already started the process to receive the money. It approved a resolution that allows it to start preparing to put $30 million in bonds on the market. Nebo can capitalize on the state's Aaa credit rating when it sells the bonds.
Nebo business manager Tracy Olsen said the other $15 million in bonds will be issued in a few years when the district needs the funds to pay for construction.
Olsen said that tax laws prevent districts from socking away money from a bond issue in a bank account for more than two years. Nebo only needs $30 million to fund the projects that can be done over the next two years.
"The last two schools will be done with the other $15 million," Olsen said. "All that will be spent on the other two schools."
The voter-approved bond and leeway increase — which kicks up property taxes $75 on a $100,000 home — will pay for five new 750-student elementary schools and a dozen renovation projects. The leeway will give the district an additional $239,000 in ongoing funds from local taxpayers.
"(The bond) was a wonderful thing," said John Stewart, a parent of children at Rees who worked on the committee to recommend a new site. "It was a wonderful day, and we can see what good things can happen as a result of the bond."
Stewart also said parents want the children to stay at Rees until a new school is built instead of splitting up the student body temporarily at several schools.
Until the building is done, Stewart says, the district should work with Spanish Fork officials to address safety on roads surrounding the new school site.
Construction on the school to replace Rees is expected to start in 2001.
Meanwhile, ground already has been broken in east Spanish Fork and Springville for two new schools. Construction crews started work a few days after the bond and leeway proposal was approved by voters.
The new buildings are needed in Nebo, which has the highest class sizes in the state. This year, the 20,000-student district was the third-fastest growing district in Utah.
The growth is expected to continue. Enrollment is projected to increase from 20,519 to 23,439 in 2005, according to district estimates.
E-mail: jeffh@desnews.com