The wrecking ball may be headed for a historic Newark schoolhouse.
According to the Fremont Argus, the City Council is considering demolishing Mowry’s Landing School, a 129-year-old building at Ardenwood Farm.
While the city would like to sell or donate the wooden one-room building, it has “no practical use” and would cost up to $850,000 to restore, officials told the Argus.
The schoolhouse, which was built in 1884 near where NewPark Mall stands today, has been housed at Ardenwood in Fremont since 1984, according to the Argus.
The Argus reports that EBRPD moved the schoolhouse in order to renovate it, along with two 19th century Fremont homes. The buildings were going to be used to allow Ardenwood visitors to experience life as a pioneer, but those plans never came to light.
The city and the East Bay Regional Park District will jointly pay for an environmental impact report to examine the effects of demolishing the historic buildings. The report should be completed by fall.
Meanwhile, preservationists are calling for the schoolhouse to be saved.
“It’s important to preserve our history so that future generations know what it was like to go to school in Newark 150 years ago,” historian Al Minard told the Argus.
Read the full Argus report here.
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