Re-purposing Buildings: Ephraim Administrative Offices

While the Patricia Shoppe was converted from a governmental to a commercial building, what is now the Ephraim Administrative building and Peninsula Preschool has taken somewhat the opposite route. The old building on County Road Q once served as a grammar school and kindergarten.

“The upstairs was converted into offices but the downstairs was pretty much left how it was,” says Ephraim resident and former village president Paul Burton. “I think there was a partition put in [downstairs].” The lower floor remains a school, albeit a preschool this time around, while the upper floor is now divided with three-quarter walls into offices. Florescent lighting was also added, and an addition was put onto the west side for storage.

Today, the happy voices of three- and four-year-olds can still be heard around the building, and the back yard is filled with playground equipment.