Trophies retrieved from Fine Arts Building

Before the demolition decision, Houston Superintendent Scott Dill wanted to save several important pieces of history from the Fine Arts Building.

Donning a breathing apparatus and suit, Dill went inside the abandoned building Tuesday morning and retrieved more than 75 trophies and plaques that were stored inside. Dill made the move prior to the school board’s decision that evening to accept a bid for demolition of the 1921 facility.

The district received criticism about the trophies following the Herald’s live video tour last month inside the building. Dill said he wanted to resolve the situation before he leaves July 1 for a new position in Poplar Bluff.

“It was important to the community, so it’s important to me,” Dill said. “They made it very clear that they were upset those trophies were in there. I thought rather than letting that be a lingering issue – regardless of what decision the board was going to make – I wanted them out of there.”

Dill said he removed the trophies by the handfuls from the second and third floors. He said he felt unsafe maneuvering to the middle of a classroom on the top floor.

“I wouldn’t ask anyone else to go in there,” he said.

The more than three large boxes of trophies and plaques will be stored in the district’s central storage facility for now. Dill said they were initially placed into the Fine Arts Building for storage due to a lack of space.

Dill said he wanted to clarify that the school’s 1938 state basketball championship trophy was not stored in the building. He went Monday and found the trophy on display inside Hiett Gymnasium after Houston resident John Impey told the Springfield News-Leader that the state title hardware was inside the Fine Arts Building. Dill said it was not.

The trophies represent competitions from the basketball and volleyball programs as well as speech, debate and academic teams.

“Every one of those trophies was held up by one of our students at some point and was significant to them,” Dill said. “So they are significant to us. It was worth the risk, the effort and my time.”