Dutchmen’s Den Last Game
by Mike Drooger
Edgerton Public School’s “old gym” will succumb to the wrecking ball this year. The gym and two classrooms were constructed in 1936-‘37 for $16,650. Today that gym is still used every school day for physical education classes and junior high and elementary athletic events. The stage area is the EPS weight room and the Little Dutchmen Preschool uses the classrooms. The batting cage for baseball and softball is also in the gym.
The April 9, 1936, Edgerton Enterprise informed readers that two classes were combined after a teaching position had been eliminated. The local newspaper reported: “The savings to be made by abolishing one teacher will just about pay interest on the money needed to build the greatly-to-be-desired gymnasium, but there is no assurance that this will be done.”
But it was done. The announcement was made in the November 26, 1936, local newspaper. “Students and teachers are overjoyed with the announcement of the coming improvements and the class that is supposed to graduate this year is strongly inclined to flunk to have at least one year’s use of the new gymnasium.”
The building project was completed and opened to the public in October 1937.
