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Here are some photos from September 2020 showing the condition of the Resurrection Activities Center/Middle School prior to the planned demolition of the building. Resurrection School opened in 1912. The original structure was enlarged three times as the student population increased. The first section of the adjacent middle school, with six classrooms, was built in 1957. The Activities Center followed in 1964/65. The Activities Center contained seven classrooms, a meeting and banquet hall (The Garden Room), a library, a large garage and an gym/auditorium with boys and girls locker room facilities. For over three decades the Activities Center/Middle School building was alive with activity. However, due to declining enrollment, the school closed in 1996.
1957 Dedication Bulletin 1965 Dedication Booklet Since then the facility has been used for a variety of reasons, mostly religious education (CCD) classes, pre-school programs, the yearly lenten fish fries and the popular July Fun Flair. The final summer festival on the school grounds was held in 2016. Since then the building has stood abandoned, suffering the ravages of time and weather without funding for proper upkeep. In June 2020 an announcement was made that the plans for the demolition of the Activities Center/Middle School building were under way, with the added space being used for much needed additional parking. As a former student (Class of 1975) it was somewhat heartbreaking walking through the vacant halls. Many memories came flooding back, but were tempered by the constantly dripping water and the stagnant smell of mold, especially upstairs. With that in mind, we grabbed a few small souvenirs. My grab bag included a vintage classroom clock that now hangs in my office at work, a holy water container from the library wall that now rests on my living room wall, a pencil sharpener from my 8th grade homeroom and a gymnasium rules placard that now serves the same purpose at the West Penn Recreation Center in Polish Hill.
Others went a bit further with the preservation of iconic Ressi Raider souvenirs. In October, a group of Ressi alumni led by Doug Brendel managed to secure the center section of the gymnasium floor, with the Ressi Raider logo. Harry Patterson had the honor of making the precise cut and the floor boards were taken into storage by Fred Hartman, whose father Ben was a long-time Raider basketball coach.
Demolition of the building began
in mid-December and was completed on March 5, 2021. ♦ Photos of the Middle School Building and Gymnasium
Demolition ♦ Click on images below for larger pictures The Activities Center From The Inside
The Activities Center From The Outside
Views From The Classrooms Resurrection Church was built on the highest land in Brookline. The upper classrooms of the Middle School/Activities Center building offered students fantastic views from the southwest to the north, depending your location. In the distance one could see Toner Institute, Brookline School, Brookline Boulevard, the Trimont Tower along Mount Washington's Grandview Avenue, and the tops of the BNY Mellon and the UPMC skyscrapers in downtown Pittsburgh. It's easy to see how a window seat in class could cause one to stare into the distance and daydream the afternoon away ... that is until the Sister of Charity quietly strolled over and cracked her pointing stick smartly on your desk!
1957 Dedication Bulletin for Middle School and Convent
1965 Dedication Booklet for Activities Center
* Photos provided by Doug Brendel and Clint Burton - Booklets from the Resurrection Archives * |
