History of Lutz School

FIRST LUTZ SCHOOL 1910

 

 

The first school in Lutz was a one-room frame schoolhouse located where the old brick building is today. It was built by the North Tampa Land Company in 1910. In 1912, 37 students, first through eighth grade, attended Lutz School. They all learned together in the one-room schoolhouse. Eighteen year-old Miss Callie Berry was the principal and a teacher… and she earned a whopping $30.00 per month!

 

SECOND SCHOOL

 

Second School became the Cafeteria when the Third School was built.

 

THIRD LUTZ SCHOOL 1927

 

 

The third schoolhouse was designed by Frank A. Winn Jr. He was born in Leesburg in 1893 and moved to Tampa in 1902. He also designed the Seminole Heights Methodist Church in Tampa, the Municipal Fishing Pier and Pavilion in Ballast Point Park and Tampa Heights Methodist Church.  

Original design was 4 rooms down stairs and upstairs large auditorium.  After a few years the upstairs was divided into 4 rooms & teacher’s room.

 

THE CITIZENS GET INVOLVED:

In 1975, the Lutz Citizens League for the Bicentennial Celebration (a group composed of approximately 50 Lutz organizations, businesses, and other interested individuals) discussed the possibility of using the Old Lutz School Building as a Bicentennial restoration and preservation project.  The idea was well accepted by most of the members.  As the building was found to still be in use by the Hillsborough County School Board for storage purposes, the idea was dismissed. 

In October 1977, Mrs. Marlyn Nancy “Nan” Groll, having heard a rumor that the old school building would be torn down to make a parking lot for the school teachers, telephoned the school board, Raymond Sheldon’s (superintendent of public schools) secretary told Mrs. Groll that there would be a meeting that Tuesday night to hear the Florida State Media for the Blind’s request for use of the building.  Mrs. Groll, along with Mrs. Phyllis Jean Hoedt, and Mrs. Betty Saunders prepared a speech to present to the board at that meeting.  Mrs. Groll presented the speech requesting a two weeks delay on their decision in order to give the Lutz people time to prepare a petition and to formulate the proper use of the building for the Lutz community.  The petitions were passed around for signatures at the Annual Lutz Fall Festival. 

The petition stated “Because the citizens of Lutz are proud of its history and wish to preserve the remaining historical landmark in our community, we the undersigned petition the Hillsborough County School Board to keep the Old Lutz School Building as a part of the community, to be preserved, restored, and used by the people of this area.” 

Approximately a thousand people signed copies of the petition. 

Mrs. Groll, Mrs. Hoedt, Mrs. Elizabeth Delaney, Mr. and Mrs. Lance Delaney Jr., Mrs. Harriet Stairs, and others attend the school board meetings two weeks later.  The proposed use of the building and the petitions were presented to the board.  The board complimented the group on the amount of work that was accomplished in a short two weeks.  The board said that they would hold the building until the citizens of Lutz could form a corporation.  The board would then deed the building and the property on which it is located to Hillsborough County.  At this point the county commissioners would hopefully lease the building to the Lutz group. 

Mrs. Groll and Mrs. Hoedt visited Mr. Joel Koford, our county commissioner at that time, to discuss the community’s use of the building.  Meetings of various representatives of various Lutz organizations and other interested parties were held in Lutz to form a corporation for this purpose.  Joe Kalish, an attorney at law from Land O’Lakes, helped plan, advise, and fill out forms for the purpose of incorporation. 

In the meantime Commissioner Koford resigned the commission to take an office in the City of Temple Terrace.  Our state governor at that time appointed Mr. Charles Bean to replace Mr. Koford on the Board of County Commissioners. 
The school preservation group visited Commisioner Bean to bring him up to date on the Lutz community plan for the old school building.

In the meantime, a representative of the Northside Mental Health Association talked to several senior citizens groups about re-modeling the old building for use as a Senior Citizens activity center.  The concerned groups met with Commissioner Bean at the Lutz Community Building to discuss the issue.  Mr. Bean gave the Lutz school preservation group and mental health group until September 1st, 1978, to present each groups proposed use of the old school building.   The mental health group in the meantime was able to acquire a federal grant for their purpose. 

The Citizens for the Old Lutz School Building presented their papers for pending incorporation and their proposed use of the building before the deadline.  The request was transmitted to various departments of Hillsborough County government.  Due to a change in the position of County Administrator, the county’s action on the plan was delayed again.  Mrs. Groll and Mrs. Hoedt contacted the new county administrator, Mr. Bill Tatum, and he in turn contacted the school board.  The school board’s paperwork was held up for several months due to the need for a survey and a property legal description. 

At this point in time, Florida Land Surveying Services of Lutz (William H. Hoedt) volunteered to survey the portion of school property in question in order to quickly solve the remaining problems.  The property survey was completed on March 23, 1979, as a contribution value of over $500.00.  With the property survey, the new legal description and the elementary school ingress-egress easement description completed, the School Board quickly deeded the property to Hillsborough County. 

Mr. Dick Sargent of the county land office drew up a proposed five-year contract for the Citizens for the OldLutz School Building, Incorporated.  Mr. Sargent explained that the lease would be renewable as long as the Lutz group continued to operate successfully, and that all such county leases were for not over five-year periods.  Attorney Joe Kalish studied the lease and explained it.  A telephone vote of the corporate directors was taken in Lutz for approval of the lease.  The lease was then returned to the county commissioners for their approval.  The commissioners approved the lease and the fees were paid on May 16, 1979. 

After a year and a half, the red tape had been completed and the physical labor began. 

Plans for the donation of roofing material fell through as did the heavy flood rains of that August and September.  The old school building’s ceiling and floors were somewhat damaged by the heavy rains that leaked through the leaky roof. 

On October 19, 1979, Mr. Jerry Ballard, a local roofing contractor, started re-roofing the second story of the old school building.  Enough roofing was purchased from the Apex Hardware Store in Lutz to re-roof the whole building. A shortage of funds prevented the first story from being re-roofed.  It was hoped that volunteer workers would be able to re-roof the first story soon.  Sure enough volunteers from the Lutz Volunteer Fire Department stepped up and completed re-roofing the first floor. 

Funding for the roof came from the proceeds of Old MacDonald’s at Farm at the Florida State Fair in early 1979.  The year Nan Groll and Phyllis Hoedt managed the farm for the Lutz community.  Doyle Carllton Jr., Chairman of the Board o Directors of the Florida State Fair, helped the group earn that money by providing(free) sausage made from wild hogs which came from the Wauchula farm. 

In 1980, Cathy Donovan and Phyllis Hoedt started an arts and crafts fair on the Old Lutz School grounds. Phyllis Hoedt, William Hoedt, and Jason Yates laid-out 95 booth spaces 12 foot square on the north side of the school building.  Two spaces were lost due to two large oak trees which existed at that time.  The Annual Lutz Fall Arts and Crafts Festival ran through its 8th year at that location until Cathy was forced to resign due to employment. At this point Phyllis joined by Mrs. Lea Griffin, moved the festival to Bullard Park, and placed thefestival under the sponsorship of the Lutz-Land O’Lakes Woman’s Club.  The operation never brought in much money for the school as most of the proceeds were given out in prizes.  The festival did bring the old schoolbuilding into the limelight and helped it to be known far and wide. 

The main cost associated with the building include insurance, electrical bill, up-keep, and improvements.  Funding originally came from the fall festival, the Lutz Old MacDonald’s Farm earnings at the Florida State Fair, and from individual donations such as was received from the Lutz-Land O’Lakes Woman’s Club. 

In about 1974, Mrs. McWilliams, Principal of the Lutz Elementary School, discontinued the old community tradition of celebrating Halloween at the elementary school.  Betty Saunders organized the kids and adults and put on a spook house at the Scout Hut at Tims Memorial Presbyterian Church.  Then later the operation was moved to the Lutz Community Building.  When the Old Lutz School Building became available, the spook house was moved into it under the name “The Haunted School House”.  The tradition has continued and has come to be the major supporter of the old school building.  Many of the performers are past Lutz students who actually attended school in the old school building.  They plan the operation each year and take great pridein what they do.   

The building is the only public landmark in Lutz that can be identified by persons returning to the Lutz community after fifty years or so.  The Haunted School House is well known for fifty miles around.  It has the reputation of being one of the very best spook houses in the Tampa Bay Area. The spook house ended in 2000 when a crackdown in Hillsborough County of fun house/spook houses the Hillsborough County Fire Inspector shut it down. 

Saturday June 10, 1995 the cupola was struck by lightning and burned.  It happened during a fast moving electrical storm about 6:40 p.m.  The fire department was alerted at 6:42 p.m. and the engines were on the scene in three minutes. We obtained $5,000 grant to repair the cupola.  The new cupola was raised to the top of the building Monday, December 23, 1996. 

On November 20, 1996, Hillsborough County’s application for Historical Resources Grant – In – Aid was presented to the Historic Preservation Advisory Council in Tallahassee.  As a result the school received a $25,000.00 matching grant which was used for roof repair and windows.  The remaining money was received from Hillsborough County.  It took two years for plans and specs, bidding and permits but in January 16, 1998 work finally began on the roof and windows.  Ben Nevel ran for Guv’na and won in 1996.  In 1997 he ran again but unfortunately did not win. December 1997 “Christmas at the Old Lutz School” began as a way to give back to and thank the community for years of support at the Haunted House. This is a continuing tradition that gets bigger and better each year.

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The North Tampa-Lutz Cadet Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol began calling the Old Lutz School home base in 1999.