Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • Page 7

Page A7 Central Illinois' on mm Decatur, Illinois, Tuesday, December 15, 1987 mm i- 11 -1 Through pictures and news articles, students have learned how the construction of Durfee came about, who it was named for and the fact that at one time it had the largest elementary enrollment in Decatur with more than 1,200 students. It currently has about 400. They have seen what their counterparts from the past looked like, how the building has changed and in what ways it nas remained the same. The research begins with the opening of the original building, now long gone, in 1892, then through additions in 1915, 1924 and 1938. The 1915 addition is the center section of the existing school.

The west parking lot is where the original building stood. Without exception, the students agree the original school was more attractive. It looked almost palatial with its sections of tall, sloping roof and a tower at the southeast corner. The tower was the first thing to go when the first addition was made. "I couldn't believe they tore it down," said 11-year-old Robert Brent Joy.

"I don't know why they did it It was so nice, they should have kept it." The building was named after H.B. Durfee, an attorney who moved here from Washington, Ohio. Durfee, who died in 1880, was a Decatur city councilman and longtime member of the Decatur school board. "I was surprised to find out the school was named after someone," said 11-year-old Misty Smith. The first Durfee was built at a cost of $13,409, a price tag these youngsters associate with a car or computer.

It was surrounded by rich farmland, according to Snelson. "They say the soil was so rich that it only took three pumpkins grown on that land to fill a wagon," she claims. Students from the neighborhood like to look at pictures of those fields and imagine where their homes would be. Pupils at Durfee plan mural By DEAN GEROULIS Herald Review Staff Writer Several small hands rummaged through the pile of old photos and newspaper clippings. Each was looking for that one item which perked nis or her interest.

"I was surprised the teachers had a sense of humor," said Durfee school fifth-grader Laymond Leaks. "I thought they would be all old and mean." Laymond thought the "old days" meant stodgy old teachers with stiff collars, the way they look in pictures. But through his research, Laymond found old pictures of teachers dressed in Halloween costumes and actually smiling. Laymond is one of more than a dozen fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders researching the history of Durfee School. The end result of their work will be a wall mural circling the school's library a pictorial history of Durfee.

For nearly a century, there has been a Durfee School at the corner of Grand Avenue and Jasper Street. No other school in Decatur has occupied one space longer, said school librarian Mary Snelson. That's what prompted the project. What they have learned has given students a feeling that Durfee holds a special place in Decatur's school system. Using a $400 minigrant from Partners in Education, the students are working on this project with Snelson and local artist Larry Weatherholt.

Snelson couldn't say when the mural will be completed, but work will continue into next year. the historical mural for the Durfee School library, from left: Damon Smith, Michelle Smith, Shelly Danner and Joanna Moomey. Photo by Doug Gaumon Collins, Brent Joy, Brian Thomas, 4 if? tTl Tat srT Tk -Tw -T- jrj-m -T. at. itp fa ir.r 5 i- Br War mJx yj fJJt tn Wa? mff 'A.

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