With a thoughtful gaze and serene presence, a wise old owl has maintained a silent vigil in East Akron for nearly 90 years.
Soon it will find a new perch.
The 4-foot copper ornament atop Seiberling Elementary is an iconic figure that has greeted generations of schoolchildren on Brittain Road in Goodyear Heights. Along the way, the owl scared the bejeebers out of untold real birds that kept a safe distance from its green metal talons — just in case.
When classes let out for summer vacation, the building will become a hall of memories. Seiberling will be torn down and replaced as part of Akron Public Schools' ongoing $800 million construction project. A community learning center — also named Seiberling — will rise on the site.
School officials are inviting the public to take one last look during an open house from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 14 at 400 Brittain Road. The nostalgic event, titled Generations of Memories, will include school tours, food and memorabilia.
There is a lot to remember.
Board of Education members once hailed Seiberling Elementary as ''the finest school ever erected in Akron.''
Developed in 1921, Seiberling was the inaugural work of Akron Public Schools architect M.M. Konarski (1890-1970), who served the district from 1919 to 1937. Konarski designed 17 city school buildings and remodeled or expanded 22 others.
One by one, the architect's works are being razed as the construction project continues in the 21st century.
The school was named for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. co-founders F.A. Seiberling (1859-1955) and C.W. Seiberling (1861-1946), who in 1919 donated the 10-acre tract where the elementary was built.
The surrounding neighborhood owed its existence to the brothers. In 1913, F.A. Seiberling personally financed Goodyear Heights, a housing project for Goodyear
workers.
Contractor H.P. Moran broke ground in April 1921 on the brick school, which cost $694,237 to build — about $7.5 million today. In a stunning development, F.A. Seiberling lost control of Goodyear a month later.
The tire magnate was forced to turn over control to Wall Street bankers to save the company from going bankrupt amid a severe economic downturn. He founded Seiberling Rubber Co. the following November.
Akron school board President Charles Smoyer wanted the building to serve as a tribute. ''It is only fitting that this school should stand as one monument to the memory of the man who did so much for the city in which he lived,'' he said.
Architect Konarski took flak from critics who thought Seiberling Elementary was a bit too ostentatious during lean times. He countered that the Italian Renaissance school was a tribute to Akron building supplies.
''All of the 5 million odd bricks were purchased locally, as well as the rest of the materials,'' he said. ''There is nothing elaborate about it. I have tried to put things in that would wear and to make allowances for additions, with an eye to future expense. The cost of ornamentation was only $12,000.''
One of the line items in that bill was a 4-foot copper owl. It is believed to be the product of Akers and Harpham, a Mill Street company that performed sheet metal roofing and cornice work.
Why an owl? In Greek mythology, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, had an owl as a mascot.
Akron school board members were impressed when they toured the nearly completed complex in July 1922. The three-story building, which was the largest school in the city at that time, had 38 classrooms, a gymnasium, laboratories and auditorium. It could accommodate 1,500 to 1,700 students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
''It contains classrooms for open-air pupils as well as rooms where undernourished children can take a nap every day,'' the Beacon Journal reported. ''There are cafeteria rooms, restrooms, locker and shower rooms, a gymnasium 66 by 88 feet, all ample to care for the entire enrollment of pupils and teachers.''
Among the ''modern practical necessities'' of the building were a ventilation system that distributed ''ample circulation of water-washed air,'' three gigantic boilers with ''automatic stoking and ash disposal appliances,'' and ''an electric dial device'' in the principal's office that controlled the temperature in every room.
More than 1,500 attended the dedication ceremony Sept. 1, 1922, where the Seiberling brothers were the guests of honor.
Miss Etta McVean, principal of the school, welcomed guests. Boy Scouts served as tour guides in the hallways. The Friars Orchestra, the Goodyear Male Chorus and opera singer Gertrude Seiberling, the wife of F.A., performed musical selections.
The evening's main speaker, F.A. Seiberling said the beautiful new building was a dramatic improvement over the one-room No. 5 School he attended in the 1860s on South High Street between Mill and Market streets.
''If we are going to mold our boys and girls into better citizens, better executives and better homemakers than we ourselves are today, we must provide the best possible facilities for their education and must see that they get the right kind of constructive instructorship,'' Seiberling told the audience.
''Nothing is too good for our budding citizens and homemakers, and I consider this handsome building a splendid testimonial to the high regard in which we hold those who tomorrow will succeed us in all walks of life.''
Officials hope that sentiment will transfer to another building.
The final day of classes at the old school will be June 10.
This fall, Seiberling's 500 pupils will move temporarily to the former Goodyear Middle School after that building's students switch to the seventh- and eighth-grade wing at the East Community Learning Center.
The new Seiberling school is expected to cost $8.6 million.
When the building opens in a few years, alumni can expect a familiar sight. School officials promise that Seiberling's mascot will have a new roost at the community learning center.
With a thoughtful gaze and serene presence, a wise old owl could maintain a silent vigil for another 90 years in East Akron.
Mark J. Price is a Beacon Journal copy editor. He can be reached at 330-996-3850 or send email to mjprice@thebeaconjournal.com.
