GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — It's the final week of school for many students before summer break. However, for Stocking Elementary it's the end of an era.
"I been in here since before preschool, all my life, I'll miss this school so much," said one Stocking Elementary student.
"I wanted to stay here for like fifth and sixth grade more than Harrison but I'm kind of happy with it because Harrison is a new school and this has been here for years," said another student.
Farewell celebrations were in order Tuesday as members of the community gathered to share memories of Stocking Elementary—which turned 100 years old this year. Attendees were allowed to take self-guided tours of the school and fill out surveys to give feedback about the future of the building. The principal of the school said there are a few reasons why the building is closing.
"There's a many of reasons why we're closing, there are schools around us that can absorb our students and really give them the opportunity that they need for the best education that they can get. We are a smaller school, we don't have air conditioning, we'd get some building needs that we can just better be served by Sibley and Harrison to really taking our kids in and embracing them and being part of their community and moving to those communities," said the principal of Stocking Elementary, Michael Thomasma.
Stocking Elementary closed before, in 2010. The school then re-opened a few years later. One Stocking grandparent said she's not on board with the new plan.
"I'm not happy with it at all. I mean, I was it should be a school. We don't need no more housing, no, whatever they're trying to do with it. The school was amazing. The whole time that we were here, the staff is lovely and they care about their students and their families. Just sad to see it go after all this time," said Stocking Elementary Grandparent, Kathi Traylor.
Tuesdays open house included a performance of the song "America The Beautiful" which was played during the opening of the building in 1924. The principal of Stocking Elementary said there are different options for what the space will be turned into.
"There's lots of different plans in the works. There's some developers that are coming in, come in and look at it and see what we can best utilize this space for. There's lots of different things, but there's nothing that's written in stone yet saying it's going to become this," said Thomasma.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Watch 13 ON YOUR SIDE for free on Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV and on your phone.