Tina Amble shows off her new apartment that is in a former second-grade classroom of a building that from 1968 to 2018 was home to Arena Elementary School. A more than $1 million redevelopment project has created 11 apartments and space for a gymnastics club, food pantry and the Arena Historical Society.
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Kristi Porter, left, gives a tour of the new space that holds the Arena Food Pantry. The pantry is located in the former office and nurse's station of the former Arena Elementary School and pays no rent.
Sean Crook, left, and Rick Kerska show off the kitchen of one of the new apartments in the former school they have remodeled. The duo also have plans for a laundromat and are thinking of adding more housing to the 6.6-acre property in Arena.
The laundry room of the Arena School Apartments includes a display of old soda cans found in the walls of the school during remodeling.
Richard Keister, right, and his wife, Bonnie, look over painted ceiling tiles with developer Sean Crook in the hallway of the former Arena Elementary School. The Keisters' son, Tyler, now 29, painted the ceiling tile at left when he was in grade school. The Keisters also had two other children attend the school over the years.
All 11 of the apartments in the former Arena Elementary School have new doors that access the outside. The apartments also have doors that enter the main hallway of the building, constructed in 1968.
Coat rack cubicles remain the in the hallway of the Arena School Apartments. The school closed in 2018.
Karla Kachic, owner of Hardcore Tumbling & Gymnastics, guides Makenna Palmer, 9, of Plain, through a routine on a balance beam on Saturday. Kachic has been in a variety of spaces with her business over the last seven years, but has found an ideal spot in the gymnasium of the former Arena Elementary School.
Athletic letters from the former Arena High School, which closed in 1962, are part of the displays in the new space of the Arena Historical Society. The room is located inside the former Arena Elementary School.
Photos: Arena School Apartments
Arena Elementary remodel
Arena Elementary remodel
Kristi Porter, left, gives a tour of the new space that holds the Arena Food Pantry. The pantry is located in the former office and nurse's station of the former Arena Elementary School and pays no rent.
Arena Elementary remodel
Arena Elementary remodel
All 11 of the apartments in the former Arena Elementary School have new doors that access the outside. The apartments also have doors that enter the main hallway of the building, constructed in 1968.
Arena Elementary remodel
Richard Keister, right, and his wife, Bonnie, look over painted ceiling tiles with developer Sean Crook in the hallway of the former Arena Elementary School. The Keisters' son, Tyler, now 29, painted the ceiling tile at left when he was in grade school. The Keisters also had two other children attend the school over the years.
Arena Elementary remodel
Tina Amble shows off her new apartment that is in a former second-grade classroom of a building that from 1968 to 2018 was home to Arena Elementary School. A more than $1 million redevelopment project has created 11 apartments and space for a gymnastics club, food pantry and the Arena Historical Society.
Arena Elementary remodel
Arena Elementary remodel
Coat rack cubicles remain the in the hallway of the Arena School Apartments. The school closed in 2018.
Arena Elementary remodel
Sean Crook, left, and Rick Kerska show off the kitchen of one of the new apartments in the former school they have remodeled. The duo also have plans for a laundromat and are thinking of adding more housing to the 6.6-acre property in Arena.
Arena Elementary remodel
Arena Elementary remodel
The laundry room of the Arena School Apartments includes a display of old soda cans found in the walls of the school during remodeling.
Arena Elementary remodel
Athletic letters from the former Arena High School, which closed in 1962, are part of the displays in the new space of the Arena Historical Society. The room is located inside the former Arena Elementary School.
Arena Elementary remodel
Arena Elementary remodel
Karla Kachic, owner of Hardcore Tumbling & Gymnastics, guides Makenna Palmer, 9, of Plain, through a routine on a balance beam on Saturday. Kachic has been in a variety of spaces with her business over the last seven years, but has found an ideal spot in the gymnasium of the former Arena Elementary School.
Arena Elementary remodel
Community members tour Arena School Apartments. Eleven apartments have been added to the former school but the main hallway largely looks the same.
Arena Elementary remodel
Rick Kerska, one of the developers of Arena School Apartments, looks over one of the bathrooms in an apartment that is ADA compliant.
Arena Elementary remodel
Steve Harrington, president of the Arena Historical Society, shows off a letter jacket from Arena High School. The school closed in 1962 and became part of the River Valley School District based in Spring Green.
Arena Elementary remodel
The town of Arena was at one time scattered with 12 one room school houses.
Arena Elementary remodel
Judy Salava of Arena looks over an old year book from Arena High School.
Arena Elementary remodel
The exterior of one of the 11 new apartments that make up Arena School Apartments.
Arena Elementary remodel
Arena School Apartments.
Arena Elementary remodel
What was the school office is now home to the Arena Food Pantry.
Arena Elementary remodel
The former office of what from 1968 to 2018 was Arena Elementary School is now home to the Arena Food Pantry.
Barry Adams covers regional news for the Wisconsin State Journal. Send him ideas for On Wisconsin at 608-252-6148 or by email at badams@madison.com.
