Preserving a Piece of History

Old Bemidji High School

Sometimes preserving history is like trying to find a special place for Grandma's collection of salt and pepper shakers, everybody adores it, but nobody wants to put it on the mantle.  Well, this family keepsake is a lot bigger than one of Grandma's collections. This one is in many pieces, stands about 16 or more feet high and weighs more than a ton of--well, let's just say it's heavy. It's a giant-sized keepsake.

"Old BHS Remembered" is a group of Bemidji High School alumni who are looking for a home for the salvaged artifact: the front door archway of their alma mater, Bemidji High School. The building was razed several years ago, but prior to its demise, quick-thinking and industrious graduates hired a salvage specialist to carefully remove and number the pieces in hopes that they would be reassembled into a grand structure that would forever preserve the memories of old BHS.

The dedicated volunteers have been meeting over the last couple years to come up with ideas for locations, builders and fundraisers to put the puzzle back together. They had a table at the all school reunion and sold pictures and t-shirts to support the cause. Several ideas for reuse have been considered and tossed aside. Installing it in the event center was a favorite of the committee. Other ideas still seem to have merit, like making it a feature in a public park. So far, no solution has caught on. That's why they need your help.

You are invited to a community meeting at city hall on Monday, October 19, 4:30-6:00pm to give your input for a solution. Thanks to a local architect, a drawing with one idea for reuse in a park will be on display to spur your creative juices. Come for the community meeting and stay for the city council forums that will follow beginning at 6:00pm that night.