McCLURE — Craig Todd believes it’s neat to restore history when you can and keep it in the minds of even the younger generations.

That’s why the administrator for the Mifflin County Christian Academy, located in McClure, has a grand vision for a historic schoolhouse adjacent to the school’s property on Back Maitland Road.

“We purchased that just this past year,” said Todd of the old structure, known as the Shindle School at one time, according to Mifflin County Historical Society volunteer Forest Fisher.

“It was falling down,” Todd added. “It was needed to be renovated badly. Either we had to tear it down, or do something with it, but with the historic value of it, we wanted to try to salvage if we could. My understanding was that it was built in the early 1900s.”

According to a newspaper clipping provided by Fisher, classes ended at all of the one-room schools in Decatur Township on May 1, 1953, when the Decatur Township Elementary School, constructed behind the Shindle School, opened. The Decatur Township Elementary School is now the home of MCCA.

“The old Shindle School was once part of many rural schools of Mifflin County,” Fisher explained. It looks similar to the days when it was open, with the exception of the old bell tower on the roof. The bell was missing and the tower couldn’t be saved.

Since renovation work started at the Shindle School, there have been many folks stopping by the Academy to talk to school officials about the old building.

“They said, ‘I used to go to school there, my grandfather used to go to school there and it’s just kind of sat there,'” Todd recalled. “We just kind of felt that it would be something kind of neat to renovate and even have some classes out there, even go out there for a chapel and make it usable again.”

School officials are trying to keep as much of the outer shell intact as possible. However, to be able to use the structure, the inside will have to be renovated with new walls, new flooring and new lighting to name a few things.

“It was just too far gone to salvage any of that,” Todd said. The funds from the Lozier Community Grant program will be used to help the MCCA preserve history by restoring the old schoolhouse. The school is also accepting donations.

According to the Lozier Community Grants website, the intent of the program is to give back to the five communities nationwide where Lozier does business. The program is geared for organizations who are under Section 501(c)(3) and funding is reviewed and managed by Lozier staff.

Headquartered in Omaha, Neb., the Lozier Corp. manufactures front and back room shelving, checkouts, shelves and accessories to meet the merchandising needs of stores and warehouses.

“We appreciate all of the help from the community as we can’t do things like that on our own, and it takes a lot of people to help make something like that happen,” Todd said.

In its third year, the Lozier Community Grant program supported 57 non-profit organizations across the country in 2024.

Todd is just grateful for the support and is looking forward to the restoration of the old school to make it functional and usable to teach classes and some of its history.

“It’s a small community out here in McClure,” Todd said. “There’s not very many historical sites so I think to salvage that would mean a lot to a lot of families even in and around the McClure area because they all have a relative or someone who used to go there or they themselves went there.”

The renovation has already begun with the installation of a new roof, preserving the rest of the structure. Electrical access, new windows and making the building accessible are next on the list of improvements.

MCCA is accepting donations for the project, which can either be mailed to the school at 5113 Back Maitland Road, McClure, PA 17841, taken over the phone at (717) 543-2200l.

“If there are people out there who would like to help with this project that would be amazing,” Todd said. “I am also looking for old photos or memorabilia to put in the school house at some point.”

School officials are also seeking the old bell that was hung in the tower. They would like to incorporate it into the renovation project.