Project Preservation
Bethel Park School District, historical society documenting history of closing grade schools
As the Bethel Park School District moves closer to the opening of its new elementary facility in the fall of 2026, a movement is afoot to make sure that the six closing elementary schools will not be forgotten.
Project Preservation is in place to honor the memories of the Neil Armstrong, Memorial, Ben Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, William Penn and George Washington elementary schools while inspiring the future, which involves the new $133 million Bethel Park Elementary Center. The new school will accommodate up to 1,800 students.
“The goal is to preserve the history of the community, in particular the schools that will be closing,” said Tim Moury, president of the Bethel Park Historical Society. “We want to document anything special or interesting.”
Voices, photos and memorabilia from the closing schools is being collected. There are plans for a video to capture the individual identity of each school.
“We want to really capture that on a video, so 50 years from now the kids will be able to look back and say this is where I went to school and this is what I did,” Moury said. “So many things that aren’t there today, people forget about.”
Each of the schools has a long history, with the youngest being Neil Armstrong Elementary School, which opened in 1970. The oldest is Bethel Memorial, which opened in 1949.
Moury, a 1980 graduate of Bethel Park High School, said memorabilia collected will be on display at the Bethel Park Historical Society building, 2600 South Park Road, itself a former schoolhouse. It was built in 1892 and served as a schoolhouse until 1958.
“The school district has been fantastic to work with,” Moury said. “We’re doing this as a joint project. If there’s anything we want to take from a building, we can have it in our museum. We really want to make a place to preserve the history, whether the buildings remain or they get taken down. We’re going to walk the buildings and one of the things we hope to get from each building is the dedication plaque to really show when the buildings were built.”
There already is much on display in a room dedicated to the schools, including some old uniforms and class pictures.
“We’re starting to build up a library that at some point will be open up to the public,” Moury said. “I think the building has been a great community asset. Most everything in here has a story.”
Anybody who wishes to donate may stop at the historical society or connect by email at historicalsocietybp@gmail.com.
District Superintendent Dr. James Walsh said it is important to remember the past while looking into the future.
“The community has a lot of pride in its history and experiences, and they don’t want to lose that,” Walsh said. “We’ve closed several buildings way before my time at Bethel Park. Those buildings are gone. The memories are gone. I think they regret losing that history and those memories and highlights from those schools. I love the idea of trying to capture the best parts of these current schools before they close so we don’t lose them and can cherish them for as long as we can.”
Walsh said having the entire elementary school population in one building will offer more opportunity for teacher collaboration.
At Bethel Park’s recent Community Day celebration, many people stopped by the historical society’s booth to contribute to the initiative, sharing memories and memorabilia of the schools.
“I saw a real steady stream of folks come by and offer their memories,” Walsh said. “A lot of them were willing to go on camera and offer anecdotes and memories that will be captured in a documentary. Some of them had memorabilia that they were willing to share.”
Moury said there are plans to sell keepsake ornaments from each of the schools, with proceeds going to the Bethel Park Education Foundation.
There also will be an open house at the end of the school year at each of the schools to welcome back alumni or teachers or anyone interested in walking through one of the buildings.
“I’ve had several people reach out and say I went to this school and would like to go through it one more time,” Moury said. “It’s important to preserve the past, because you have to know where you were. You can’t change history, but it helps tell you how you got to where you got and maybe helps you plan where you want to go.”