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history of the red brick schoolhouse
In May of 1908, the citizens of Dover Township voted and passed a bond issue that funded the construction of a new schoolhouse. The building was built on what had been a fairgrounds on Dover Center Road at the cost of $11,840. The first consolidated school building in western Cuyahoga County, the “Red Brick” opened in the fall of 1909 with four classrooms, on two floors, and a basement. Then known as “Dover School”, the building served to educate grades Kindergarten through twelve. In May of 1917, Dover Township once again passed a levy to fund the construction of an addition to the back of the building, which added four more classrooms, increasing the usable space to over 16,000 square feet. This expansion cost taxpayers $17, 419 and was completed in the spring of 1918. In 1923 a new Dover High School was opened, on the site of what is now Lee Burneson Middle School. It was then that grades seven through twelve moved to the new building, and grades Kindergarten through six remained in the “Red Brick”. Throughout the years, the “Red Brick” has served our community in a variety of ways. Every one of today’s Westlake Schools originally “opened” in the “Red Brick”. As each new building’s construction was completed, students began fall term in the “Red Brick“, and then moved to their new schools; first Dover High School in 1923, and finally Bassett Elementary in 1968. From then on, the “Red Brick” served as the administration offices of the Westlake Board of Education, until they moved to their current location at the corner of Dover Center and Hilliard Roads in the spring of 2003. Since that time, the building has remained vacant. Soon we will be able to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the “Red Brick’s” opening. Once at the geographic and cultural center of Dover Township, this old gem of a building has served our community for generations and stands as testament to the values of the people who built it. Our goal is to preserve and yet transform the “Red Brick”, allowing it to continue its mission of service and education, this time in the arts.
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