The building of Merrill Middle and Elementary School now sits in heaps of rubble, closed off by fencing marked with demolition signs. It’s no longer recognizable to many North students who had attended the middle school.
After multiple board meetings, the City of Oshkosh Common Council decided a community green space and track for Vel Phillips Middle School will replace the historic school. Merrill’s elementary school students now attend the newly built Menominee Elementary School.
Originally, the Common Council voted against the zone change on September 10, seeing the athletic facility as inadequate use of the space.
Common Council member Paul Esslinger voted against the original zone change, stating in an NBC26 article that the athletic facility plan would not be used enough.
“Just tearing stuff down for an essentially empty space that’s not going to be used 95% of the time, when you can use it and generate tax money just seems like very, very poor planning.”
Controversy has followed the Oshkosh school board and City Council since their vote to remove Merrill Middle in 2022, with protestors arguing against the decision to demolish the school.
However, students at Vel Phillips must cross the street to the field on New York Avenue and Jackson for extracurricular activities, which leaves the concern for safety of the students crossing a busy street. The rezoning plans state that a “track & field, football/soccer field, basketball courts, and a storage building” will be built, which will lessen safety concerns. Although this will greatly benefit the students at Vel Phillips Middle School, the nearby community will also benefit as well, as the zone is available to the public.
