The Brimfield School Arch Project
Preserving a Part of the Past for Brimfield Township’s Future

An artist's rendition of the reconstructed Brimfield Arch.

The Brimfield Historical Society has embarked on a collaborative project to save the stone arch from Brimfield Elementary School and to reconstruct it on Kelso House grounds. The building that housed the township’s first centralized school erected in 1921 was demolished in August. Many organizations including Brimfield Township Trustees, BHA, Brimfield Chamber of Commerce, Brimfield Lions, Central Portage Visitors Bureau, South Portage County Rotary and the Field Local School Board are collaborating to raise more than $50,000 that will be needed to complete the project.

In July The BHA Board of Trustees contracted VIP Restoration of Cleveland to dismantle and remove the arch from the façade of the old school. Individual pieces of the historic arch were then numbered, photographed, covered, palletized and transported to Kelso House property where they will be stored until reconstruction begins. The Board hired Joe Bodnar of Fuller Design Group in Kent as architect for this project. His focus will be to consider the designs of the original arch and the new structural supports that will be needed to ensure that the arch will symbolize an important period in the township’s past. Early plans call for the arch to stand near the southwest corner of the Kelso House Commons where it will be visible from Kelso Drive and from State Route 43.

Nancy Rodd, Administrative Assistant to the Brimfield Township Trustees and Fundraising Chairperson for the Arch Restoration Project, has met with many groups from the Township to gather support for donations. Jim Winkler, BHA Trustee, is the Project Chairman and has coordinated the work between VIP, the school demolition contractor and the Field Local School Board.

Donations for the Arch Project are to be made to BHA, P.O. Box 1231, Kent, OH 44240. Designate “School Arch Fund” on your check memo. Contact the Kelso House office at 330-673-1058 with questions.
Click here for donation form

The BHA and the Brimfield community need your support for this important project. Become a part of its growing list of supporters.