After the doors of W.R. Frose School in Fawcett closed at the end of the 2013-14 school year, the building remained empty, its fate unknown.
In April, Pembina Hills Public Schools trustees passed a motion to tender out the demolition of the building. The total cost of the project was tendered out this summer at $189,231, which the province agreed to pay for.
That project finally began last Tuesday, Nov. 8, ending a 97-year history of schools in the community.
The book Hardships & Happiness, A History of Fawcett & Area Volume Two, which was published in 2013, indicates the first school in Fawcett was built in 1917 on land at the west end of the hamlet.
As the student population grew, so did the physical building. In 1948, a new building was required.
The final location of the new building was chosen as across the road from the Frose farm, opening in January of 1949.
The school grew in student numbers with centralization and more classrooms and a gymnasium were added in later years.
The last major renovations took place in 1985, with the 1949 portion demolished and two new classrooms, library, staff room and office space being added.
In 1990, when long-time teacher and principal Werner Frose retired, the school was renamed the W.R. Frose School. The library was also dubbed the M. Alice Frose Library in honour of Werner’s wife Alice, who had also taught at the school.
Declining enrolment eventually necessitated the school’s closure, along with the Jarvie School. Students were then moved to the renovated and expanded new K-9 Pembina North Community School in Dapp.
Though the physical building may be gone, the memories of life skills and education learned by students who attended schools at Fawcett will never be forgotten.
Werner Frose watched the beginning of the demolition of the school last Tuesday with great interest, but he wasn’t shedding any tears.
“It’s just a building,” he said. “The real sadness for me is when I hear of a former student that has passed away.”
Frose said the condition of the building in many areas had deteriorated to the point where it would required almost a complete rebuild if it were to have continued to function as a school or anything else, for that matter.
He said the decision by trustees in establishing PNCS was the best option for the students north of Westlock.
He added that he was heartened by recent e-mails and Facebook postings directed to himself and his wife Alice.
These were former students who wrote about their experiences there, but didn’t mention the building itself.
The building may be gone, but the education gained there will be remembered by students forever.
