Local couple helps preserve Dover High School history
The stone frame has been removed from the old building and stored. It will be cleaned and repaired as needed and will find a new home at the entrance of the new school building.
When the new Dover High School opens its doors to students next year, there will be bits of the old Dover High School to be found within the fresh brick walls. One of those things actually makes right something that went amiss when the original building was constructed in 1915.
Bonnie Mason and her husband, John, were both members of the Dover High class of 1962 and have maintained a close interest in their alma mater, supporting academics and athletics whenever possible. This year as parts of the old school building were being removed for safekeeping, the Masons, along with school officials, realized an empty arch supporting a circular stone frame was meant to contain a clock.
“If you look at the original architectural renderings of the 1915 wing before it was built,” Dover Schools Superintendent Carla Birney said, “you can see that there was supposed to be a clock there.”
“It was 1915, and for whatever reason, likely due to fears surrounding World War I, the clock was never purchased or installed,” Bonnie Mason said.
The stone frame has been removed from the old building and stored. It will be cleaned and repaired as needed and will find a new home at the entrance of the new school building. Standing more than 8 feet high, this time it will be fitted with a clock.
The project is in search of help in securing funding, and Mason said costs are expected to reach $20,000 or more. A plaque listing donor names is planned as part of the final installation.
As the Masons have strongly supported the project, the clock installation will be designated as a donation of the Dover High School class of 1962. A ceremony at the Dover football game on Friday, Sept. 27 marked the announcement of the project.
“The idea came from John and Bonnie Mason,” Birney said. “They have been great supporters of the new school. We have had many discussions about what we can preserve from the old building, and many people felt the arch was something important to save. And we felt it would be a great thing to complete the architect’s original vision. It was something everyone involved felt should be done, and the Masons led the way.”
Birney said the City of Dover provided some grant money to assist with the preservation.
Birney said it will be a year at least before the clock is installed near the main entrance. “We plan to move students into the building in March of 2020,” she said. “An auction will be held to sell off items from the old building, and then there will be a period of abating hazardous materials from the structure before demolition.”
Following removal of the old building, the grounds will be finished and landscaped, and the entire project should be finished in late 2020.
“We felt it is important to preserve pieces that are important to the community,” Birney said. “Marble from the front entrance of the old school will be reused. We’re preserving a leaded glass transom and incorporating it into the new building, and parts of the entrance to the old auditorium as well. There are many items that are being recycled and reused. We wanted to utilize the very unique craftsmanship of the old building and bring it into the new.”
“I know it will be fantastic, just a great thing to add to the new building,” said Mason, who added that donations can be mailed to her at 4744 Mt. Pleasant Road NW, Dover, 44622, with a notation regarding the clock.