'Very sentimental:' Former Brown Deer School, 1 of village's original buildings, will be torn down

BROWN DEER -- One of Brown Deer's original buildings will soon be torn down. It has been a fixture in the village since 1922. Originally called Brown Deer School, it was built just two years before another staple of Brown Deer was born -- Larry Ehlers, who would later go on to own Larry's Market.

"I could see the school from my bedroom window," said Ehlers.

It originally only had two classrooms.

"I called one room the 'big room' and the other room the 'little room,'" said Ehlers.

The building now has broken windows.

"It looks very sentimental from the outside, but the inside is in pretty rough shape," said Erin Hirn, assistant village manager.

The school was sold to a church in 1980, and was owned by different churches over the decades, but it hasn't been used in a few years -- and village officials said they're ready to see it torn down.

"I think that taking down this building isn't a bad thing. Obviously, it's in a lot of disrepair, so bringing more to this area is going to be wonderful," said Hirn.

The property was sold to a developer -- with plans to tear it down and build up to 175 apartments and town homes.

"I'm kind of sad to see that. It's been there for such a long, long time," said Ehlers.

Village leaders are working with a developer to preserve some of the historical parts of the building, with construction on the apartments and town homes expected to begin in the spring of 2019. Village officials expect the apartments to be complete sometime in 2020.