New purpose sought for former elementary school in Donora

State Sen. Camera Bartolotta toured the facility Monday to help suggest new ideas.

Inside the former Donora Elementary Center, the past lingers on every wall.

A faded bulletin board still tells students to “Be The Best You Can Be,” its paper curling at the edges.

In a hallway arch, the word “LEARNING” is scrawled in red, nearly buried by peeling light blue paint.

An old RCA television perches in the corner of a classroom, silent and obsolete, above cracked plaster and broken blinds.

Brass doorknobs etched with the school’s insignia remain in place, though dulled by dust. Walls have shed their paint, like bark from a tree, revealing the blue and white coats of decades past.

For those who taught or studied here, the reminders are powerful.

“It’s amazing how good of shape it is for being empty,” Donora Councilman and former teacher Fred Berestecky said Monday as he headed down a hallway toward his classroom. “All things considered, you walk in and it still brings back memories.”

Despite its dilapidated appearance, the Donora Elementary Center still boasts sturdy bones that speak to its original craftsmanship.

Built in 1930, the structure was designed to last, with brick walls, cast stone foundations and a solid framework that have withstood decades of wear.

Though the roof needs attention in some spots and windows were recently boarded up, the structure of the building remain intact.

The gymnasium, auditorium and hallways retain much of their original charm, with wood floors and plaster walls still holding strong.

Even after years of abandonment, the building’s enduring strength offers hope that it could still serve a meaningful purpose if given the right investment.

From Donora High to Elementary Center

The building opened in 1930 as Donora High School, intended as a junior-senior high campus. Only part of the original design was ever constructed due to the Great Depression, but the stonework over its entrances still bears the labels “Junior High” and “Senior High.”

The last class graduated from Donora High in 1969.

After the Ringgold School District was formed, the site was repurposed in the late 1970s as Donora Elementary Center.

It stayed open until 2011, when Ringgold closed both the Donora and Monongahela elementary centers and moved students to the former Carroll Middle School.

In 2014, Donora Borough purchased the 74,000-squarefoot school and its 34 acres for $20,000.

At the time, residents applauded the move but little headway was made as ideas never seemed to find the push they needed to move forward.

Ideas that never stuck

Officials aren’t ready to let their optimism for the site dim.

On Monday, they invited state Sen. Camera Bartolotta to walk to halls and give them a push in the right direction on how to market the property and find the right investor to repurpose the building and hopefully get it back on the tax rolls.

“We need to get something to move in here, the sooner the better,” Councilwoman DeAnne Pavelko said. “This is just a tour, for us to get ideas and see what kind of help there is out there for us and this property.”

The borough is currently paying to insure and maintain the vacant site.

Just this year, officials said tree work alone will cost about $8,000, a move requested by their insurance company. Lumber to board the windows for safety cost another $7,000.

Over the years, the school has been pitched for a range of uses.

In 2015, the Community College of Allegheny County studied it as a potential trades training campus.

A 2018 feasibility study explored how the property could be converted.

And while a potential use hasn’t been decided, there are a lot of ideas on the table.

Bartolotta gave examples of how buildings like DEC have been repurposed, such as converting the gymnasium into memory care and using the annex for doctors’ offices.

Other proposals envisioned senior housing, a charter school or a community center.

While a nonprofit entity would be nice, it most likely needs an investor that will get the property back on the tax rolls and generate revenue.

First Baptist Church once petitioned to take over the site.

Prominence Charter School expressed interest in 2018 and the Rev. Robert and Darla Holmes most recently discussed ideas with borough officials, but none advanced.

The cost of waiting

The building’s condition, though not catastrophic, will continue to worsen with time.

Windows have been boarded after break-ins. Peeling paint, cracked plaster, and sagging ceiling tiles are common inside.

Council members know demolition would be prohibitively expensive — another reason to seek redevelopment while the structure remains usable — but more than anything they don’t want to see it fall into such disrepair that there is no other choice but to tear it down.

Nearly a year ago, Berestecky proposed forming a committee of residents to brainstorm the property’s future.

Council President Cindy Brice suggested Donora consider using the site for a municipal garage and storage space.

Pavelko noted that since the borough owns the property, grants could help fund construction.

Other ideas were thrown around, and it might be easier to sell the property, but that too is easier said than done.

At a crossroads

The former DEC stands as both landmark and liability.

For older residents, the sight of chalkboards, bulletin boards and brass fixtures stirs memories of community pride.

But for borough officials, the vacant building represents mounting costs and hard decisions.

“It’s more than just a building,” Berestecky said. “But at the end of the day, we need something that puts it back on the tax rolls.”

What happens next — whether the school finds new life or simply fades further into disrepair — will shape not only the fate of the property, but also how Donora chooses to honor its past while planning its future.

Bartolotta has been among the voices pointing out what could be done with the old Donora Elementary Center.

She envisions the property as a prime spot for a trades training hub — a place where people could learn skills like welding, construction or even commercial driving. With more than 30 acres on the site, she noted, it could accommodate CDL training on the old track.

Bartolotta stressed that the key to making such a project possible is attracting outside investors and tapping into grants, rather than leaning on already-strained local tax dollars.

“You don’t want it to be some freebie place that the taxpayers have to pay for,” she said, pointing to similar projects elsewhere that paired private contributors with state funding to create sustainable community assets. “For me, a big thing too is finding a way to get it back on the tax rolls.”

Bartolotta made it clear that she plans to help Donora officials connect with the right partners and funding streams to actually move the project forward.

“The borough can’t take this on alone and needs guidance and outside investment,” she said. “I can and am ready to help with that.”

She suggested working with the Redevelopment Authority and the local chamber of commerce to help market the property, prepare it for sale and attract credible developers by personally making introductions and getting decision-makers on site.

“I can make an appointment with the folks from the Redevelopment Authority to come on down here and take a tour, take a look, take pictures, whatever the heck — do a little drone flyover, look at what’s here, how many acres, what’s available — and see what the opportunities might be. We’ll get something going.”

“We need to move forward and get something done, the faster, the better,” Mayor Don Pavelko said. “We need someone to come in and see the value that we see.”