Renewal continues for historic Haddon Township school

Imagine if Haddon Township's venerable Champion School had been torn down to make way for a 7-Eleven.

That awful idea never got anywhere, thanks to Alfred Litwak and people who rallied behind him to save and restore the one-room schoolhouse.

Now imagine this long-dormant building transformed into a setting for educational programs, historical reenactments, and social events.

That could happen soon, thanks to Doug Kelly and his supporters.

"The school already has been saved. The hard work is done," Kelly said Saturday as volunteers moved furniture, swept floors, and washed windows at the township-owned landmark on Collings Avenue.

Although the building is deed-restricted to educational uses, Kelly - a Haddon Township businessman and booster - envisions special events such as a "pop-up coffee shop" and art exhibits bringing new life to the site.

"It's a fresh start," Kelly, 52, said.

The two-day open house drew about 50 people, some of whom, like me, had never been inside the national historical landmark - one of the earliest extant school buildings of its kind in the state.

Partly covered by a gray, stucco-like material, the brick building trumpets neither its existence nor its purpose.

"I've driven by for years and always wondered what it was," said investment counselor Paul Devine, 64. "I thought it was a railway-related structure."

The Cherry Hill resident said he was impressed by the simple design and compact space of the school. It was built as a Quaker institution in 1821, endured the construction of the Philadelphia & Atlantic City Railway alongside it the late 1870s, and remained open for classes until 1906.

Through the 1950s, the building hosted meetings of Boy Scout troops, women's clubs, and other organizations. But the former school had been vacant for about 25 years when restoration began in 1987.

"It's still one of my favorite projects," said restoration architect Margaret Westfield of Haddon Heights.

The work used about $200,000 from federal and state grants, as well as the proceeds of car washes and other local fund-raising efforts. The project was done in phases as money became available, and was finished in 2003.

Repairs to exterior soffits and steps likely will necessitate additional fund-raising; a private nonprofit organization called the Newton-Union School Society Inc., set up in 1986 to oversee the restoration, will be "reactivated," Kelly said.

He recently succeeded Litwak as Champion School's unpaid volunteer caretaker.

"I was getting too old and could no longer maintain the building," Litwak, 91, said from his home in the township's West Collingswood section. "I was doing the repairs, and my wife was cleaning it."

A retired RCA engineer and history buff who enjoyed donning a period costume to greet local students visiting the school, Litwak said such field trips had dwindled to almost nothing because of budget cuts in local districts.

"I'm glad to see [volunteers] trying to rescue" Champion School from disuse, he added.

When I visited Saturday, a half-dozen people were at work in the attractive community vegetable garden, now in its third year of operation in the back of the property.

The school also is directly across Collings Avenue from a park that includes a burial ground with unmarked graves of Revolutionary War soldiers, a former train station, and access to Newton Creek.

So it's not difficult to imagine that better signs, more programming, and community support could help make the school and its surroundings a local destination.

"Everyone has been dying to see this place," said Kelly, whose enthusiasm for Champion School is contagious. "Even if they don't know it yet."

He hopes to have another open-house this summer.