From left City of Fallon Chief of Staff Bob Erickson, Councilman James Richardson, County Commissioner Greg Koenig, city councilwoman Kelly Frost and commissioners Justin Heath and Pete Olsen, and Parks and Recreation Director Jorge Guerrero prepare to cut the ribbon for the new CARES after-school program and the renovation of one building at the Cottage Schools.
For generations Cottage Schools with its three buildings stood out among the other buildings in Churchill County that provided quaint classrooms for educating the community’s students.
Built as a replacement for the high school in 1939, the three individual buildings on the Cottage campus were used for educating students first in kindergarten and then later in grades 1-3 until 2007. The facility on East Stillwater Avenue changed its mission after the spring semester to provide teacher training and adult education.
Both the city of Fallon and Churchill County conducted a ribbon cutting last week to signal a new use for the Cottage Schools. The county’s CARES after-school program and SumFun moved from the fairgrounds to the Cottage Schools with the students arriving on Monday.
Commission Chairman Pete Olsen said the relocation and ribbon-cutting signal a momentous occasion for the CARES program. Olsen said the renovation will provide a safe after-school location for the children.
“The city saved these buildings, and they transferred them to us for our use,” Olsen said, thanking the city and the Parks & Recreation staff. “What they wanted to do is use for them for kids, and that’s what we’ll continue on to do this.”
The education of the county’s children is keeping with the Oats family when they donated the property to Churchill County for a school. Other property was deeded for the Oats Park School which was renovated by the Churchill Arts Council and used for musician performances, art exhibitions and poetry and literature readings. A provision of the Oats generously donation stipulated that if a school was no longer used for educational purposes, the property would revert to the Oats family heirs.
Steve Ranson / LVN
Churchill County Commissioner Pete Olsen announced last week the CARES after-school program is moving to the Cottage Schools.
Although only one of the three buildings has been renovated, Olsen said the potential is there to renovate at least another building if enrollment increases.
Robert “Bob” Erickson, the city’s chief of staff, said Mayor Ken Tedford is passionate about the heritage, culture and history of the community.
“Part of the heritage is the education of our children,” Erickson pointed out.
Erickson said the first building on the property was built in 1906 and was used until a newer and larger high school opened on South Maine Street in 1918. He said the original high school was then torn down, and the bricks from that building were used in one of the Cottages Schools.
Steve Ranson / LVN
City of Fallon Chief of Staff said part of Fallon’s heritage is the education of its children.
In 2007, Erickson said Cottage Schools was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
After the teacher training facility and adult education moved from the Cottage campus, the Churchill County School District and Oats family transferred the property ownership in 2016 to the city of Fallon. Five years later, the city and country agreed to swap the Cottage Schools and the former senior citizen properties.
Jorge Guerrero, director of the county’s Parks and Recreation, also oversees the CARES and SumFun programs. He acknowledged his staff and those associated with the CARES program for making the transition from the fairgrounds to the Cottage Schools. He said the program has about 70 children, and there’s a waiting list.
“This new site will allow more children in the future,” he said.
Steve Ranson / LVN
A sign marking SumFun and the CARES after-school programs welcomes guests.
High school 1906-1918
Original 1906 high school building constructed of bricks, trimmed with stone from the Rattlesnake Hill quarry
Elementary school 1918-1939
1939 - Old high school razed and three cottage buildings built. Cottage #3 used bricks recovered from the old high school building
Cottage Schools 1939-2016
1939-1962: Used for grades 1-3 in Churchill County
1962-1964: Atomic Energy Commission leased the building
1964-1992: Used again for kindergarten and primary grades until Lahontan Elementary School opened in 1992
1992-2007: Used for pre-kindergarten
2007: Cottage School added to National Register of Historic Places
2007-2015: Teacher training facility, adult education at Cottage Schools
2015: Adult education moved to West End School
2016: Property ownership transferred to City of Fallon from Churchill County School District and Oats family
2021: City and County agree to swap the Cottage Schools and old senior center properties
2022: Cottage School building #2 (center building) is renovated; Parks & Recreation’s CARE after-school program transfers operations there from the fairgrounds
