Those living in, or visiting the city of Azusa, should not be surprised if they see a house being towed through the streets next Thursday evening, Oct. 13, as the Old Schoolhouse is going to be relocated to Veterans Freedom Park.
Starting about 6:30, the Old Schoolhouse will be transported from its current spot on North Angeleno Avenue to its new home at 213 E. Foothill Boulevard.
Azusa was awarded a $3 million grant as part of the recently passed state budget to move, restore and curate the historic landmark and the surrounding area at what the city is planning on calling Azusa’s Historic Row.
The relocation will be between the city’s Historical Museum and Barnes House, the city’s first permitted home.
“We want to sincerely thank Senator Susan Rubio and Assemblymember Blanca Rubio for helping us attain the necessary funding to relocate, restore and curate this historic and culturally significant landmark,” Mayor Robert Gonzales said.
The city purchased the schoolhouse from Azusa Unified School District earlier this year. According to Azusa City Clerk/historian Jeffrey Cornejo, the first found record of the schoolhouse is 1903.
The time of day to move the house was picked for a reason.
“Although not traveling a great distance, moving an actual house will undoubtedly impact parking andcommuters along the route and that’s why we’re scheduling the move after rush-hour,” City ManagerSergio Gonzalez said.
The wood-framed schoolhouse is considered an architecturally significant building. A leftover from race-based segregation policies, it was used to separate Mexican students in the early 1900s to teach English and “Americanization” classes until public schools in California were mandated to integrate.
The schoolhouse was also used as a polling location where residents of Mexican descent were only allowed to cast their votes, according to a news release from the city.
Mayor Gonzales loves this move.
“This is extremely cool, not just for this council, but for this community,” he said.
He said the city of Azusa is a tight-knit community with a reverence for its long list of generations.
“And for our history and our culture to save and preserve that is exciting for me, but more exciting for the residents that have been here before me,” he said. “This is a thank-you to them.
“This is in honor of those residents who have endured the segregation from the voting but also the educational process for the past hundred years.”
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