Empire School (Empire, Michigan)

The first school in Empire was the schooner "The Empire," from which the town derives its name.[2] The schooner was icebound in the Empire harbor during the winter of 1865. In 1867, a permanent school building was constructed on Brotherton Road. A new two-story school was constructed in 1891. This school, however, was destroyed by fire in 1899.[3] As a stopgap, classes were held in the Maccabees Hall until a replacement school could be built.[2]

The district decided their new school should be a top-quality, four-room schoolhouse.[3] A new site was purchased, and construction began in 1900,[2] with an initial payment to contractor George Snell.[4] The new Empire School was completed in 1901.[5] A gymnasium was added in 1932, using funds available from the Works Progress Administration.[3] An old machinery storage shed was moved to the school property to house shop classes. In 1941, a small school building, the Boynton school, was moved from its original location to the Empire School to provide space for kindergarten classes.

However, school enrollment was declining.[3] In 1958, several local school districts, including Empire, consolidated to form Glen Lake Community Schools.[5] By 1968, the Empire School shut its doors. A series of owners purchased the property for speculative ventures, and it was re-roofed in 2004, but the ventures did not pan out. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.[1] As of 2017, a local group was attempting to convert the school into a community center.[6][7]

The Empire School is a 10,000 sq ft (930 m²) L-plan single story structure,[3] and includes four classrooms and a gymnasium.[8] It clad in clapboard. The school contains two sections: the original section is a square-plan building containing the four classrooms. This section has a hipped roof with a smaller gable at each end and square cupola in the center. The main entrance to the building is off-center in the north facade. The second section, containing the gymnasium, is a rectangular, gable-roof addition to the original building.[4]