HPHS Class of 1963/Class of 1964 Restoration Fund
Note from Steve Fournier ('63)
October 10, 2005
Our fund-raising drive to pay for the restoration of the brownstone owl from the Hopkins Street door generated $530, which I deposited in a trustee account at Webster Bank. In mid-September, I met with Luke Williams, who has retired as a teacher at HPHS but who continues to maintain the rich historical archives that now resides in a vault in the office.
Luke had been told that the developer would pay for the work on the owl, and we discussed other possible uses for the fund our classes created. Still, with the renovation of the school in full swing now and well over budget, it's not a sure thing that the tab for the owl will be picked up by somebody other than us, and so I told Luke that we would keep our options open.
There is another brownstone owl that came down with the Broad Street building, and it's a mess. It's been sitting for years outside the auditorium of the "new" building on Forest Street, and it's fouled with graffiti and has a broken or eroded beak.
The plan now is for the historical collection, including the two owls, to be exhibited in an area of the school dedicated as a museum. The museum will need display cases of various kinds, and that's another possible option for our fund. We might also finance an event with some of the money we have and thus combine a reunion of the two classes with some targeted fund-raising.
I'll report here periodically until we decide what to do with our treasury. Send me your suggestions, and I'll post them here, too.