DANVILLE - It was built in 1914, keeping vigil over children for 88 years while the world changed around it.n

In 2002, however, the inevitable course of change caught up with it.n

Douglas Elementary School will close at the end of summer school this year and will be razed sometime next year to make way for a new preschool center for Danville District 118.n

But for the many generations of students who have walked through its halls and gone on to take their place in society, the memories of the time spent there can never be demolished and replaced.n

To celebrate its history and recognize the closing of the school, Douglas Elementary will hold a community open house 1-4 p.m. Sunday at the school, 500 Florida Ave.n

"We just thought that all the former students would come back to see us," said Carol Swank, a fifth-grade teacher at Douglas who has spent 34 years at the school. "We would like to see them before they leave."n

Photographs and other memorabilia will be on display and alumni will have the chance to visit their old classrooms and reunite with old friends.n

The festivities include refreshments and door prizes, and the Douglas Parent Teachers Association will take orders for commemorative T-shirts to remember the occasion.n

A special group photo of all staff, students and alumni in attendance at the open house will be taken in front of the school at 2:15 p.m., employing a crane for a full, wide-angled picture.n

The 30 staff and 240 students at Douglas this year want to make sure that the grand old building goes out in style, having been a special place for children to learn for nearly a century.n

The staff at the school believe that what made Douglas stand out in their minds was its feeling of togetherness as the center of a community.n

"I think it has a neighborhood quality," Principal David Carrell said. "There's something special about being in a neighborhood. It's the focal point of a community.n

"It's small (and) you get to know the students and you get to know the parents. You can get a lot more accomplished in smaller groups.n

"No matter where our students go, they will do well. We've trained them well."n

Julie Thomas, a special education teacher at the school, said that her involuntary transfer to the school 25 years ago was the best thing that ever happened to her.n

"I think the staff really works well together," she said. "We have a wonderful building."n

Lois Bennett, a fourth-grade teacher at Douglas, has been at the school for 22 years. She said that being a part of Douglas is like being a part of a family, one that stretches back many generations.n

"It's just a family-oriented school," she said. "Kids come back to see us ... (having) been gone two or five years."n

The staff will be on hand to tell their stories of the school's past - like the time a teacher accidentally was locked inside her classroom, the time a teacher went into labor while at school and the many times the neighborhood bats flew in and raised havoc.n

"It's just sad that this tradition is dying," said Judy Mattis, a third-grade teacher who has been at Douglas for 27 years. "It's just sad that we're just breaking up and moving away."n

For more information on the open house, contact the school at 444-2650. n

To donate old photographs or other memorabilia concerning the long, rich history of Douglas Elementary School, contact Don Hittle at the school at 444-2650.n

A history of the school:n

- Douglas School originally was opened in 1876 and then was known as "Rabbitown" or "East End" School. It consisted of two two-room buildings on the block near the intersection of Bryan Avenue and Park Street.n

- The two buildings at Rabbitown School taught grades 1-4, with fifth and sixth grades taught at the old seminary on 8 Pine St., which was home of the Danville Veterans of Foreign Wars until it recently was demolished.n

- Sometime between 1876 and 1880, a two-story eight-room building was constructed at the Bryan Avenue site.n

- In 1914, the current Douglas Elementary School was built.n

- In 1908, the first Danville Mother's Club was organized at the school. In 1917, when World War I was declared, the Mother's Club turned into a branch of the Red Cross and soldiers were entertained at Douglas with movies and parties.n