Improvements are being made to the Willow Hill Grade School. The building is being refurbished and restored to be utilized as an adult boarding house. Below is an interview with Bernard Woodard.
Could you tell me about what your plans are for the school?
1) Since we purchased the school and adjacent lot, maybe 10 years ago now, the intention was to create housing whereby young people or couples could stay at an affordable rate while going to college. Over time now with internet classes becoming more and more popular this is even a more feasible use when students are only required to visit their main campus at various times. Additionally there are so many other adults looking for alternative housing to the conventional house or apartment whereby they have to pay for unused space to heat, cool, clean etc. So our goal is that our The Willows Adult Boarding House (An Alternative Life Style) will house people in various situations of their life and at different prices for whatever they are looking for. If things go as planned we will have several room configurations: one studio type apartment, two bedroom areas to house couples; One Bunkhouse with (4) queen beds; One Bunkhouse with (6) twin beds; and One Bunkhouse with (4-6) bunkbeds; The customer only pays for what they need in a bedroom space as some may like complete privacy interested in the private sleeping areas while others want to live less expensively, but a choice of 3 type sleeping areas in the bunkhouses. All the while everyone gets common use of the outside grounds, large recreation/study area, kitchen, bathrooms, shower and laundry.
What made you decide to do this in Willow Hill?
I am from Willow Hill and maybe the last class in 1972 right before they starting bussing our families all over the place for an education. At that time we all went to the same school there from first grade through eighth. I lived right in town with parents, grandparents and even great grandparent/s within a short walk or bike ride…sometimes feeling like the town’s little Opie as I followed the older men of Willow Hill around as they worked on various community projects such as my grandpa Harold Woodard, dad Bernard Woodard and uncle John Rich and so many others from time to time. Once I guess bugging them while they rebuilt the little park pavilion (still there) these special community men of those days sent me to various houses looking for a “board stretcher” all over town like a ping pong ball…I finally figured out there was no such thing as I had been tricked. Also being a boy scout, athlete for our local Willow Hill sports just gave me so many roots that I wanted to do whatever I could possible for the town and people that made me who I am today. Not only saving this school but repurposing it into something useful for the community made all the sense in the world to me.Even the Baptist church across the street from the school is the first I ever attended as a child.
Looking through your Facebook page, it seems you are very talented and knowledgeable in restoration could you tell me about yourself and your background which has assisted you in this project?
Both of my grandfathers (Joseph Murry and Harold Woodard) were very big into gardening and orchards while my grandpa Woodard and dad also salvaged lots of material from old dilapidated houses and they took me with them since I was like 5 years old it seems. So very early in life I learned about edible landscaping and salvaging materials for the purpose to reuse them. Since that time like 50 years ago I have completed literally hundreds of restoration or building projects from Pueto Rico to Alaska and Hawaii to New York for both private and government interests. My specialty seems to have become not only the restoring of old structures, but now creating a purpose for them. In the last few years in Roseburg Oregon we have completely changed a very blighted area along the waterfront from what was mostly drug dealing blighted homes into Airbnb homes during the Summer and local Community College housing for student athletes during the school year. I feel that with my restoration abilities and what has turned into a talent to visualize a sustainable use…it has made me successful in not only restoring the structure itself but the useful life that it once had. The Willow Hill school needs both of those gifts to make work
What can the community do to assist in this project?
I believe there could be assistance from the local Willow Hill township or Jasper County in applying for federal tourism, education or historic structure type grants to finish restoring the school and/or other local structures for this type of purpose. Additionally the dirt street that comes into the northwest corner of the property could be graveled for access and would help with getting the commercial electric lines we need closer so it will be less costly. The community itself can start trying to remember everything about the way this school was originally laid out so some of those uses can be reincorporated into its new life. Things are always needed with this type of project from cool plants or trees to volunteer work every now and then. Remember that when this school opened in 1906 Willow Hill was actually a thriving town with like 3 main streets with storefront buildings/stores (one picture attached) and education was all the way 1st through 12th grades. Now there is basically no schools, no baseball fields so as a community maybe ask…what happened and how can we reclaim a portion of that past.
What is the hopefully date for opening? Do you have any of the details on the procedure for the Boarding House?
We are working with limited budget so our goal is to get various spaces livable then use the worker trade-off system to help finish the work. I am always ambitious with schedules but I hope we never have to “vacation” the water or electric again to stop work in the Winter. If we get enough work done between now and November we will have some rooms up and open then it will be just a continual work in process until we are completed. It would be great to have a couple couples and one bunkhouse housed and going this upcoming school year…but only time will tell.
The procedure will be a customer chooses whether they can live in a bunkhouse with all the other living amenities or if they need a more private sleeping area. People will pay different prices for each bunkhouse depending on how many other beds are in them. Everyone gets the same access to showers, bathroom, kitchen, recreational study and outdoor grounds inclusive of what is envisioned as an outdoor beer/wine garden.
Is there anything you would like to add?
Somehow Jasper County missed the boat when it came to economic development in getting a Community College and even a hospital, which may some day be remedied somehow. But for now if we can just create some easier alternative housing for those wanting to go to school in another county without living there…that is a positive step forward. It is my understanding that Willow Hill is in the “In District” for both Olney Community College and Lincoln Trail College so the cost of classes is more reasonable now lets find how to house people and get them excited about advancing their careers for both theirs and the community’s future.
