A historic Ada County school opened its doors Saturday for its alumni to host a class reunion. Those who went to the Mora Schoolhouse near Kuna got the chance to walk through the same doors they walked through decades ago.
The reunion was meant for more than bringing classmates back together, it was also hosted to celebrate future renovation plans. The School was built in 1910 and to this day, is one of the last remaining Mora structures still standing.
Flipping through history, and walking on the same floors that she walked on when she attended the Mora Schoolhouse in the 1940's, Norma Blevins recalls her time in the building.
"It's years ago, boy, it's been 70 years," said Blevins. "At least that."
Norma is now 86 years old, and as she goes through old class photos, she's reminded how many of her classmates aren't around anymore. Although her class has had reunions in the past, this is the first one at the old schoolhouse.
"Of course it's been a few years and most of them have passed away or are too old to come," said Blevins. "I think it's pretty important that we got together. We enjoyed it and they come from quite a ways away."
The reunion at this historic site was made possible by Hristo Nedelcev - a friend of Norma and her husband Kenneth Blevins, who also attended the Mora Schoolhouse. Nedelcev bought the building and has plans to renovate it.
"I want to have the building with an old theme," said Nedelcev. "To just look and say wow, that's the old Mora school. Not to change it."
While Nedelcev is working to bring new life to the old building, he says there have been many cases of vandalism - graffiti on the walls and broken doors and windows.
"They need to know we're going to restore this building so it's important we can't vandalize it," said Nedelcev. "It's very important, people tear up when they come here."
Nedelcev says he plans on doing a massive cleanup first, and then he will start planning and budgeting for the renovations. At this point, he says he's planning on making the Mora Schoolhouse a bed and breakfast, and keeping the building's character and history is his main priority.