“ As a child living on South Park Road, the current site of Jim & Lou Lou’ s Restaurant, I walked to school with my older sister Betty,” says Haberthur.“ I remember where I sat in each classroom for the six years I attended grade school. My first grade teacher, Mrs. Ainsley, invited my friend Lorraine McGrosky and me to her home, currently where SHIM stands, as a reward for being the best spellers in first grade. It was such a treat. At recess, we played hopscotch, jacks or skipped rope in the yard.”

Haberthur’ s memories and those of hundreds of other students will be preserved for decades to come through

a renovation of the old school on South Park Road into“ The Schoolhouse Arts & History Center,” home of the Bethel Park Historical Society.

Last year, volunteers of the society along with Haberthur’ s son, Bill— also a Historical Society board member and now the director of the center— initiated a $ 1 million dollar capital campaign to restore and renovate the building.

Since 1934, only cosmetic changes had been made to the 12,000-square-foot building.

“ We had to move the building forward, or give up the ghost, if you will,” explains Bill.“ Mark Edelmann, an architect with EPM Architecture who designed the Bethel Park Community Center, inspected the building and said it was in really good shape and just needed some TLC. We knew then the building was worth saving structurally and developed a

capital campaign and have been working feverishly to renovate.”

A 1978 graduate of Bethel Park High School, Bill went to seek his fortune in New York City on Wall Street before moving back to Bethel Park to be closer to family three years ago.

“ Getting involved in this project has sparked my love of history and architecture,” he says.“ Parents, aunts and uncles all went to school in that building and I always had empathy for it. I came to the first meeting and the members were a volunteer, good core group of people with the number-one priority to preserve the building.”

Since starting the campaign, the group has already made progress by obtaining a $ 140,000 Gaming and Economic Development Fund grant for a new heating and air conditioning system for the first floor of the building.

PHOTOS COURTESY BILL HABERTHUR.

18 724.942.0940 TO ADVERTISE | Bethel Park