Steele City Schoolhouse To Be Demolished

By Gordon HopkinsPlans are in thew works to tear down the Steele City schoolhouse. According to the Jefferson County Historical Society, the school is on the National Register of Historic Places. The property is owned by the Historical Society but they do not have the funds to repair or maintain the building.The schoolhouse is in a severe state of disrepair. Terry Blas of the Jefferson County Highway Department discussed the matter with county commissioners at a meeting on Tuesday, October 3, 2023, “It’s to the point now, some kid crawls in there and gets hurt, who’s liable for it? The roof is falling in.”Blas said, “It needs to be gone.”The Historical Society is looking to transfer ownership of some or all of the property, approximately five acres, to the county. The county would then handle the demolition.In return, once the building is torn down, it can be used by the county to park county vehicles. Commissioners also discussed the possibility of putting up a building in the future.Jason Eyer of the Highway department said, “The way I understood it was, we’re going to take it down for the land that’s there.”Commissioner Mark Schoenrock confirmed, “It’s kind of a quid pro quo. If we tear down the building, then they will deed us that property.”Before any of that can happen, the building must very be cleaned out and inspected to ensure there are no hazardous materials inside such as asbestos.Schoenrock asked, “When they do the asbestos study, does that also include any other hazardous materials that might be in there?”Blas said, “Comprehensive. They’ll check the pipes and everything.”“It’s full of asbestos,” said Tammy Katz, Chairperson of the Village of Steele City Board. “Lead paint, it’s horribly full. Lead paint is peeling off. There’s going to have to be a lot of stuff done to get it to the point where it could be torn down.”No action was taken at the meeting. The project cannot move forward until the Historical Society completes the hazardous materials assessment. Schoenrock said, “Right now the ball is their court.”

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