By Luke Anderson

February 10, 2016

Sundance residents who worked to save their old school were successful, representing an important movement toward the preservation of Wyoming’s historic schools. Thanks to local leaders and residents, Sundance’s old schoolhouse known as “Old Stoney” will remain as a historic building and provide for the residents of Sundance and the surrounding area with its new role as a cultural center.

Built in 1923, Old Stoney represents the Progressive Era, a time when Wyoming began several initiatives to improve the quality of education to keep up with national trends. During this time, architects and educators began to apply a more scientific approach to the design of school buildings, providing more attractive and efficient school facilities. Old Stoney is a prime example of this effort and was the pride of community members whose children and grandchildren took classes there, experimented in its chemistry labs, played in its gym classes, and performed in its grand theater.

Old Stoney is testament that these buildings can continue as key components to Wyoming’s towns, rich in history and varied in their buildings and their uses. Historic schools can be preserved not only for their historic character, but also for their mixed uses, providing architectural diversity, economic development, and the intrinsic values communities have in preserving their past.

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