A big civic conflict in small communities is often the issue of growth — how it happens and where and when. There are those who are pro business, or take to heart the mantra ‘build it and they will come’. Then there are people who advocate converting what is to what could be, such as redeveloping an historical village center. Some residents are Nimbys.

There’s no doubt Sloatsburg is growing. Residents can look around and see construction crews busy fixing bridges and digging up roads. After several years of stalled real estate sales, houses in the area are beginning to move again.

Local builder T.J. Ryan has taken up the task of making something new while preserving a bit of local history. Ryan’s company, Prestige Building Corp., just cleared land at 10 Academy Avenue in Sloatsburg, where a small ranch-style house sat deteriorating for years, under looming trees with a rusty lone flagpole near the road.

The Sloatsburg Union Free School stood at the site of the flagpole on Academy Avenue from 1880 until 1942. A new school opened in 1942 across the Ramapo River at what is now the site of Sloatsburg Elementary School.

The property is the site where the Sloatsburg Union Free School once stood. One of the earlier schools in Rockland County (Sloatsburg’s original school was a one room building off Mill Street that served students of all ages), the Union Free School opened in 1880 to students K through 8th grade.

The Union Free School burned down in 1943 but the site was long marked by the school’s flagpole. The  Sloatsburg Elementary School 4th graders regularly visited the site for the annual Sloatsburg Day History Tour. A union free school district is one made from the union of multiple common school districts and free of restrictions that barred the other schools from operating a high school.

Ryan recently bought the property and razed the house, but the flagpole itself – which is probably not original to the old school – still stands, waiting its eventual return to the village.

Sloatsburg Mayor Carl Wright called the flagpole symbolic of the old historical Sloatsburg school. “It is a very important piece of our village history,” said Mayor Wright. “We want to design some kind of appropriate remembrance. We certainly want people to know about it, and those who do, we do not wish for them to forget.”

Ryan plans to build colonial-style homes on the property, which had already been subdivided by the former owner. Part of the agreement to subdivide the property, negotiated by the village, is a stipulation that the property will ultimately contain a monument marking the site of the school.

“The village will dictate what the monument will be made out of and the verbiage to go on it,” said Ryan, who supports the idea. “This is a win-win situation,” he said. “It helps the village and the surrounding neighbors to enhance the neighborhood by knocking down something old and deprived and putting up something new. New houses also give a better tax base to the village and help the values of the neighbors’ homes.”

“I’m delighted that Tom Ryan has acquired that property and I know that he’s certainly going to improve it,” said Sloatsburg Mayor Carl Wright.

The Sloatsburg Union Free School stood at that location on Academy from 1870 until 1943. A new school opened in 1942 and is now Sloatsburg Elementary School.

Mayor Wright called the flagpole symbolic of the old historical school. “It is a very important piece of our village history. We’ll be working working hand in hand with the school district and the community,” said Wright, “to design some kind of appropriate remembrance. We certainly want people to know about it, and those who do, we do not wish for them to forget.”

Ryan plans to build two separate two-story homes on the site, each with a full basement and one car garage. One house is expected to be around 1550 square feet and the second, larger home around 1800 square feet.

Several people in the Academy/Ballard neighborhood inquired about the flagpole, Ryan said, but it goes back to the village. He said the future monument will be easily accessible and in full public view.

“This is a win win for everyone,” said Ryan. “The village, the county, the surrounding neighbors, and the neighborhood.”