Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Abandonment Issues: Woodview Public School

Woodview Public School Class Picture May 1966

Woodview Public School was built in 1956. The 6,653 square foot, single storey Masonry structure rests on approximately 9.91 acres in Otonabee South Monaghan Township, just beyond the eastern city limits of Peterborough, Ontario. It contains only 5 classrooms. 

It was in these classrooms that my mother and father first met. They are both present in the lead photo above.

In 1990, the school was closed and used as a storage facility for several years.

Woodview Public School

My mother reminisced aloud about childhood memories as we wandered the property together earlier this year, along with my older brother. She shared stories of pain and pleasure, laughter, lovelessness and fear. She told me things about my estranged father and his family that I never knew, and pointed out the  house they rented across the street from the school. We walked through the woods, back to the home that she lived in with her stern parents and their ever-growing family.

We engaged in a heartfelt discussion about our families history as we wandered.

Afterwards, she told me that she still had a class picture including her and my father from their grade 8 graduation year, her diploma and her report cards all still stored at home. And since the interior was not accessible on this day, we planned to head back to her house and check them out. That was, after we explored two abandoned houses together on the other side of Burnham woods, just a few minutes west.

Now I had stopped in at Woodview at least a dozen times over the course of the year, hoping for an open entry point, and was continually shut down. But several months after our visit with our mother, my brother and I made a return trip and were pleased to find an accessible entry point. Unfortunately, the desks and chairs and virtually everything else had been removed, but nevertheless it was worth the wait, even if just to show these photographs to our mother.

Upon noticing a motion detector acknowledging our presence in the Principals Office, and an active alarm on a main door, we made quick work of photographing the tiny building and made our way back to those two abandoned houses down the street.

Woodview Public School

Woodview Public School Classroom 1

Go Leafs Go!

Woodview Public School Classroom 3

Woodview Public School Classroom 5

Woodview Public School Girl's Washroom

Woodview Public School Corridor

Woodview Public School Boiler Room

Woodview Public School baseball diamond

Here are my mother's grade 8 report card and diploma from Woodview Public School...

Mom's Grade 8 Report Card from Woodview Public School

Mom's Grade 8 Report Card from Woodview Public School

Mom's Grade 8 Diploma from Woodview Public School

Thanks for taking the time to explore this old school with my family and I, this building holds a very dear and special place in my mother's heart, and if not for my parents meeting here, I'd never have been born and lived to tell this story.

click here to check out all of jerm & ninja IX's ABANDONMENT ISSUES


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What happned to those snazzy picture titles that you're famous for?

Deborah said...

this is fascinating. It is so nice that you and your brother remain close to your mother, who seems to have somehow developed a capacity to love in spite of all the lack of it in her own earlier life. I know similar tales in my own life. Love your blog so much

Anonymous said...

the first time my family and I drove by this building I felt this tremendous erge to investigate it. The image of the school didn't leave my head for days and its secrecy was driving me mad. And on friday of this week I drove by it with my friends and noticed a for sale sign. Which evidently lead me to your site, mostly for the images... Thank you for sharing so much about it.

Jen said...

I went to this school in 1989. I loved it! It was a school for grades 7&8 only at the time.
Woodview joined with Coldsprings P.S., David Fife P.S., and Keene P.S. to merge into what is now North Shore P.S. in Keene, ON (Otonabee, South Monaghan) so sadly I only attended the school for 1/2 a year before it was left abandoned. Coldsprings P.S. is where I went for grades 1-6 and it is abandoned as well on Wallace Point Rd.

Anonymous said...

Kawartha Montessori School took over the Woodview property in October 2014 and has since renovated and updated the building. We would love to have you and your mom join us at the Grand Opening of the new building on Saturday, November 7, 2015 between 1-3 pm if you are interested!

Anonymous said...

The picture of Mr. Luther took me back. He was our teacher at Maple
Grove School at West end of Peterborough. This guy was crazy for the strap. If he pulled off half the stuff today that he did in those days I'm sure he would have been fired and/or jailed. Same goes for the crazy principle during that time - Dave Murray. Too bad some former students couldn't enlighten you to the hellish times these two bastards subjected all the students to at one time or another.