Small town schoolhouse is now a hot rental property for adventurous travelers
MIDDLE RIVER, Minn. -- Spring break is coming up in about a month, and that means many students will go on vacation.
But way up north, some will actually be going back to school. In this week's Finding Minnesota, John Lauritsen shows us why people love spending the night at the Middle River Schoolhouse.
"We have of our own newspaper. We have our own community theater, and it's a stand-alone theater," said Sandra Melby.
The town of Middle River is small in size but big in promotion. People who grow up here have a lot of pride, and many wouldn't even think of living somewhere else.
"Between grades 7 and 12, I took all my home economics classes in this room," said Deborah Zak.
Zak and her friend KayDell Super were Middle River Skippers. Super even came back to teach after high school.
"Just wonderful memories. Wonderful," Super said.
In 2018, those memories were in jeopardy. The school closed its doors after more than 60 years. When that happened, Zak and Super were sure of one thing -- they didn't want to see the school destroyed.
"Everyone you talk to, they've got a story to tell. It's part of their lives. And they knew there was more that this building had to offer, I think," said Super.
So, they got together with the town's Legacy Committee and came up with an A+ idea to essentially turn the classrooms into hotel rooms.
"Our nearest hotel is 22 miles from here and we had people coming in the area for hunting season, for family reunions," Zak said.
That means, yes, graduates can sleep and snore in a room where you used to serve detention.
Melby helped convert half a dozen of the school's classrooms into an Airbnb. Beds have replaced desks, but pretty much everything else stayed the same.
"We get families, and girls scout troops, and hockey teams that just want to come and hang out for a weekend in the school," Melby said. "They get to skateboard down the hallways. They get the gym all to themselves."
All while experiencing a little bit of old school Middle River.
There is a lesson to be learned here -- if you build it, they will come back. Some of the school's most frequent customers are alumni, who rent classrooms so they can have a libation in the library, or play dodgeball in the gym.
"The bathrooms are the original school bathrooms, so you have the stalls," Melby said. "It was a crazy idea, so we're very lucky that we have the people in this small town that are willing to try crazy things some times."
Crazy is one word. Determination is another. Because when it comes to preserving the past, Middle River gets way more than just a passing grade.
"We've pulled off a lot of stunts here. And just when you think something's down and out, forget it. We'll come back and do something," Super said.
They are actually a couple businesses on the other side of the old school, including a seamstress and a coffee roaster. Guests do have their own showers, even if they have to use the boy and girl bathrooms.
The school initially closed because the district built a new building.