This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Granger Elementary may be gone, but PTA President Christine Wilkins wants to make sure that the 50-year-old school is not forgotten.
The building, at 2450 W. 3800 South, was demolished in mid August to make way for a new Costco, which will part of Valley Fair Mall's multimillion-dollar redevelopment.
Wilkins and PTA volunteers salvaged 500 bricks from the original building and are offering them for sale for $5, as part of a fundraiser for the PTA and school programs at the new Granger Elementary, to be built at 3700 S. 1950 West.
Granite School District anticipates the completion of the school by December 2007. Granger Elementary students are currently being bused to Woodrow Wilson Elementary, 2825 S. 200 East.
Wilkins said the old school's demolition was an emotional experience, and she wanted to make sure previous students would have something to remember.
"Watching the school come down was a bittersweet moment. It was sad to see it go, but at the same time this is an opportunity to start fresh with new equipment and a new building," Wilkins said.
She said salvaging the bricks was a tedious task. It involved selecting whole bricks and then cleaning them. Then, PTA volunteers labeled each brick with a card that included a photo of the old school, the address and motto "Where the Cool Go to School". The cards were attached to each brick with ribbons, and included the number of years it served the community.
Souvenir bricks were taken to Wilkins' garage, where she and her team spent a Saturday afternoon selling them. Half of the proceeds will go to the PTA with the other half given to the new school.
The decision to demolish was met with mixed emotions from the community and teachers.
"Some parents were upset, some weren't," she said.
The new Granger Elementary will be a replica of the newly built William Penn Elementary at 1670 Siggard Drive in Salt Lake City, and will include state-of-the-art classrooms and facilities.