The Vandalized Fire Alarm @ Bettes Elementary School
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ธ.ค. 2022
- Bettes Elementary School was constructed in 1927 and equipped with a manual pull rod fire alarm system. In 1952 additional classrooms were added to the building. It was at this time the fire alarm system was upgraded with electrical IBM hardware that automated the entire system. In 2018 - 2019 the school was closed due to redistricting and sold at public auction. The new owners intended to repurpose the old school building and use it for a community center. Due to lack of funding the project never came to fruition. Sadly, the building was breached by metal scrapers and vandals and fell into a total state of disrepair. As of February 2023, this school has been demolished.
This was my Elementary School back in the 90s. My gosh, it was such a magical place when it was in operation. It's sad to see it like this. I hope someone buys it, and turns it into an apartment building or something. It deserves not to be like this.
Crying shame to see these beautiful buildings fall into disrepair and torn to bits by vandals. Mountains of history and memories were undoubtably made behind those walls, let alone how beautifully these schools were designed and built. Fantastic video, I hope you are able to recover some of the remaining hardware.
how did Goodrich fall into a bad state?
@@Vigilance108 also got vandalized
Today is my 15th birthday, 11/11/2023
If I was rich the first thing I would do is buy all these old buildings and restore them to the former glory
👇 If you would do the same
where would you get the money to do that?
I have a simplex 40-30 dual projector and trust me they are LOUD my dream is to hear one in an echoing building
I love your videos there well made and i love how you explain how the old fire alarms work
Thank you!
I just found out this school has been demolished😢😢😢😢 😡 😡😡😡😡😡
You'll also hate that everything left went down with the building
RIP
Press F to pay respects
F
F
Awesome update video bro. Your attention to detail is unmatched.The correspondence of pictures back in 2015 to now to 2022. It shows how much this industry means to you. Without people like you this would be a dying breed. We would love to see more update videos like this.
Of course we all would
Glad to see you upload again
Its cool to see one of the last pull rod systems! Awsome!
good to see you back!
Hi from England UK
I learned something new today ... I didn't know that IBM did fire alarms
Cool video
THANK YOU !! Yes, IBM started making fire alarm systems in the 1940's.
Had a feeling this would happen when I saw this school was still in operation when you uploaded your original video. Unfortunately these old buildings are seeing their end.
Yes, it really is a time gone by. I just wish more school districts would preserve their old school buildings.
Personally I agree because tearing them down throws money down the drain and building new ones takes more money and time
The hype seeing one of these new vids is great good vid
In my area they keep old buildings and theres a 1957 elementary school near my house and my k to 4th had pull rod system once i hope those alarms were saved over the years
Theres this school in Lawrenceburg, IN with Single-Stroke Bells and a Faraday I think, you'll find it interesting
Glad to see someone took that Panel before the building got worse! Hopefully its in a good home! Whoever got it most likely took the 10 inch gong, but too bad they didnt get a pull
Damn. This reminds me so much of my elementary school (which coincidentally has a similar IBM fire alarm system) which closed in 2003. I'm not sure if any damage has been done on the inside, but I know it has been broken into a couple of times. The gymnasium is actually still used by a private company, but the rest of the building is uninhabited and I know it's in rough shape, because as you've shown in this video, paint is peeling off the walls and plaster is coming loose as well. The city wants to buy the building back and turn it into public use, but no plans have gotten off the ground. I do know the IBM system is still installed and I assume it still works. When it was last tested is beyond me though.
You should try and save that system if they replace it or tear the school down, sounds like it is very rare indeed.
You should its a good idea
Here in Brockton MA, they are preparing to demolish an old school building from 1916 that has since fallen into a state of disrepair before being closed last summer. I went there for afternoon preschool in 1992-93, and during its' final years it was used to house both a high school program for smart kids and an alternative school for juvenile delinquents. The only old fire alarm component left is a two-bay Simplex 4208 fire alarm panel from 1974, which has been sitting there disconnected in favor of a cheaper Fire-Lite MS-10UD-7 system installed in 2015. We're looking to have that Simplex 4208 taken out and donated to the city's fire museum, so it can be preserved there as an exhibit for people to remember the school by. (If only they still also had the original Simplex 4051+4040-60 horn/lights, then one of those could also be donated to the museum alongside the 4207 panel; but they've all been replaced with mundane SpectrAlert Advance horn/strobes.)
personally I don't think tearing down old buildings is a good idea because it throws hundreds of thousands of dollars down the drain including the construction of the new building which is built with inferior material that doesn't last more than 25-30 years when it needs repairs and maintenance these old buildings require little maintenance and yet they last a very long time before needing this stuff.
My high school and middle school are from the 1960s and parts of the old fire alarm system are still in place. It makes me sad to see history being wiped away
Very sad to see that this awesome school building has been vandalized and the fire alarm system has been destroyed by people that do these sad choices
I went to school here still live in the neighborhood it's being torn down as of the week.
Very well presented! When it comes to situations like this, are you ever incentivized to save what’s left of the fire alarms?
Yes, I try to salvage as much as I can for fire museums and historical preservation.
Why is Hotchkiss in really bad shape
@@OldSchoolFireAlarms With how certain pieces of the system looked, I wonder if a collector took that panel and the bells?
@@tots16 Its possible or they were taken by metal scrappers.
when is the Hotchkiss update? btw happy new year
Took pictures in June of 2022.The building was literally falling apart. I went to school there from 1984-1991. My dad was a custodian with the district and worked there for a bit while I went to school there. It was heart breaking to see it falling apart last summer. I drove there in March 2023, and it was equally sad to see it tore down. .... All that exists are memories of us that attended that great building.
Thank you for watching and your comments. I know exactly what you mean Joshua, I felt the very same way when my elementary school, George Barber was demolished in 2008. It was like the death of a loved one.
Did you see the link I put on Goodrich middle school fire alarm? The school is deteriorating as I write this
@@Vigilance108 Yes, I saw it. Very sad. It is just a matter of time before the city of Akron will order this building demolished.
I love these kinds of videos, they are fascinating
@@OldSchoolFireAlarms And I will feel the same way when Central Grade School gets torn down in 2026 if the milage passes.
So sad many old building like these are being abandoned and eventually destroyed (mostly for nothing but I know some have reasons). So cool old fire alarms mean business while the new ones don’t seem like they get your attention that much.
It's sad :(
Its so sad to see these schools get demolished and the fire alarms get destroyed. 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢
The school is now even worse condition than it was in this video. Place is trashed; the ceilings are all ripped up, floors are a mess from all the ceiling tiles and stuff that the scrappers were tearing through, graffiti everywhere, some areas were set on fire by vandals too. It still looked salvageable in this video. It’s heartbreaking how all of these beautiful old school buildings are treated with such disrespect and how nothing is done with them.
Aidan Bettes elementary has been demolished and I don't know what happened to the property
@@Vigilance108 Yeah, I took pics as it was being torn down. Property is an empty lot now.
Did they abate the building for asbestos or no
@@Vigilance108 I believe they did.
Good thing
So sad that that beautiful building is in ruins and that old IBM Panel got taken.
Why would some idiot take an inactive panel
Same thing happened to BENNETTS VALLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL in my SCHOOL DISTRICT THIS WILL BE it's last year from what I've heard the local school board said that all students as of next year will go to FOX TOWNSHIP ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WITCH WAS THE SCHOOL I WENT TO. From what I can remember the fire alarm system was an EDWARDS SIGNAL TECHNOLOGY PRE INTERGRATY MODEL AND it's set to countious tone but I am not sure if it was replaced but I do remember it going off in 2018 due dead batteries that triggered the system into alarm and the local fire department came up to investigate this further and found the false alarms were the batteries dying.
Damn Mike that's sad
Thomas Jefferson highschool in San antonio is a historic building and it is vandalized daily by children at the school...
I live near San Antonio actually
I can't imagine the metal in the panel had much value? Maybe a enthusiast or someone was able to snatch it up before anyone else.
This school reminds me of the school building that Matilda went to in the movie with out the newer part
Hey I saw on Facebook that they Demolished the school it’s sad to see the school getting demolished. Hope you save the ibm fire alarm system
What does the site look like now?
@@Vigilance108 look the 1950 building which is the north side is delmksheid so that means they delosnhied the entire thing lots of buildings in Akron get deloshimed even schools who are still in
Operation get demolished and build newer schools so they don’t have to renovate the school like putting new roofs and new alarms systems and new. Heater you name it all in the book it’s just sad how it is at my job im a custodians at a middle school (junior high school) is gonna be renovate in 2 years from now and other school in the district. That I work for
My current school I go to I believe it was built in the 70s or 80s it is in full operation with a fairly old fire alarm it was implemented in 1989 I believe
@@Vigilance108 Empty field with some trees.
Thanks man
Hey dude, I've enjoyed your videos and how well you document these vintage fire alarm systems. I've noticed you haven't uploaded in a while, are you doing alright?
Hello, and thank you for asking. I am fine but have been terribly busy filming and documenting other schools and fire alarm systems. New videos are coming. Hopefully I will have some to post before the end of this year, so stay tuned.
20:44 I kinda wanted that IBM clock
There was a lot of stuff in that building that was worth salvaging that most likely all ended up in a landfill.
@@OldSchoolFireAlarms rip
@Old School Fire Alarms I love your channel and the old pull rod fire alarm
Happy Fourth of July! Can't wait to see more videos!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
HAPPY 4th of July to you as well !!
The amount of depth scrappers go into amuses me
Desperate people do desperate things. Metal scrapers take a lot of risk in getting caught and prosecuted, that's for sure.
Has the building been fully demolished yet? just asking because I don't live in Akron
@@Vigilance108 The school is gone as of this writing.
Thanks for the update much appreciated
@@Vigilance108 Your welcome.
Sad to see
Where were you I was waiting my whole life for you to upload BTW my community center has a Simplex/IBM system still installed
Nice to know you are still watching my You Tube channel. This has been a pretty hectic year for me. I lost my Dad in February and its just been one thing after another. It sure does not get easier the older we get. But I'm still in the saddle and will be posting more videos next year, so stay tuned. Take care and thank you for your concern.
@@OldSchoolFireAlarms thank you for telling me and i'm sorry about your loss
@@OldSchoolFireAlarms I'm sorry to hear that, I hope things are going well for you
@@FrozenFan765 Thank you, most appreciated. I just take one day at a time and count my blessings. That's just about all any of us can do
I'm happy you're still alive
Id have been interested in some of those old clocks.
Welcome back i hope this school gets saved or you can save this system
Unfortunately this school is being demolished.
Is this your alt?
Sorry
@@realandrewcinque22 RIP
Yes indeed
i hate how it was vandelized, this beautiful school
Same :(
Are you going to make more videos in the future
Yes, I am. Stay tuned.
Hi mate how are u ok mate u do a rally good job on TH-cam keep up there good work on TH-cam am a big fan fan of u do a rally good job job on TH-cam
THANK YOU !!
it makes me upset that old building are treated with almost no respect and they are demolished like they don't even exist anymore
I’m surprised all the pull stations were there. Kinda seem collectible
Me too. Those pull stations are collectable. But when you are taking things just for scrape metal purposes, they're not worth that much.
The pull stations must have been valuable since they're so rare
These old systems are very cool and last forever, but it is so extremely irresponsible for one to still be in use in the 21st century. Not ADA compliant, no fire department dialing, and no automatic detection.
The older systems can very easily be upgraded to be ADA compliant and most of these older systems are and can be tied into security companies and fire departments, I just don't show that in my videos. These older systems are 100 times more dependable then the absolute cheap digital crap that is manufactured today.
Hey, got a question for ya. I can't seem to find much information on it but, the Autocall 121-S/Faraday Type 2 is a rebranded Federal Signal horn right?
That is correct. IBM got them from Federal also and rebranded them as their own.
@@OldSchoolFireAlarms Still lightning quick with the responses after all these years i see (James Wheeler alt account btw if ya recognize that name). Good to be back here since this channel is kinda nostalgic for me since i used to watch it all the time back as a young teen. One more question boss, have you come across a non rebranded Autocall 121-S before and do you know what it was called?
@@CliffNark Great question! The answer is no. The only ones I have in my collection and that I have seen are Autocall, IBM and Faraday. But I'm sure there are other companies that used this type model horn. Edwards and Simplex used Benjamin horns. Wheeler had their own style klaxon horns. I will be posting some new videos soon. Take care.
@@OldSchoolFireAlarms Another quick question. Where did you find out that FS was the OEM for those horns? As always, appreciate the responses plus the work you've done and continue to do bud 👍
@@CliffNark I was fortunate to meet with a former employee who worked for the original Autocall Co. out of Shelby, Ohio. He worked the production line and later became a sales represenative. He was the one who told me that Autocall bought the horns from Federal then rebranded them as their own. The former employee was 79 years old when I met him and that was back in 2008.
Yay new vid!!!!
Did you save the alarms from Charles Dickens elementary in Cleveland?
Unfortunately, no.
@@OldSchoolFireAlarms NOOOOO
I believe Hotchkiss will be demolished within 2024, I took a look at the school and several rooms are overrun with mold and other hazards
@@Vigilance108I hope the alarms will be saved
me too
This school should not have been demolished
I agree with you 100%
So sad and erie. Do you have any interest in saving what's left of the alarm system?
Because of the black mold I will not be going back into this school building.
@@OldSchoolFireAlarms I understand. Now that I think about it as much as I would love to see it be preserved... this system is pretty much gone. Video turned out great and I hope to see more in the future.
@@jaredthompson3011 God willing, you will see more. Thank you for watching.
How bad has the black mold gotten?
@@Vigilance108 Pretty bad, to the point you would not want to go in.
It's ashamed of course that the system won't work cuz of the electricity and most of the parts teared off. It it would've been still left on and good to go, then it would of been amazing to see it work in camera movement.
You can see the entire system being activated. Watch the video, IBM FIRE ALARM @ BETTES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL on this channel.
Back in 2015 the school looked like it just got out of construction
What got you into fire alarms, btw this school is beautiful on the outside, I hope they will eventually purpose if
It is possible that the school could be salvaged but we're talking millions of dollars and I seriously doubt anyone at this point will invest that kind of money. For one thing, the school is not in the best neighborhood and the building on the inside is 10 times worse now then when this film was produced. I have been fascinated with fire alarm systems ever since I was a youngster. The very first fire alarm I pulled was when I was 10 years old at my elementary school, George Barber. I told one of my teachers that I wish I could conduct a fire drill. Several months later, I was called down to the principle's office one day and told I was going to conduct a fire drill. The rest is history.
@@OldSchoolFireAlarms So is it gonna just sit there until they get enough money to tear it down?
@@theray2009 The City of Akron will no doubt order the building demolished due to multiple health and building code violations. Now this process takes time, so I do not know how long that will take.
@@OldSchoolFireAlarms how many historic schools in ohio are still active
@@theray2009 For the whole state of Ohio, I'm not sure. There are only 3 left in Akron, Ohio.
Yo, this ur editor; what’s good?
Everything is going well. Hope you and yours are doing fine. Have a wonderful and safe Holiday Season!!
@@OldSchoolFireAlarms U too.
If you're the editor you do a mighty fine damn job man
@@Vigilance108 Thx.
@@Vigilance108 Thank you! Yes, I do all the editing in each film posted.
I wonder if a fire alarm collector took the panel
We'll never know.
Why on Earth would a metal scrapper breach the building
@@Vigilance108 Metal scrapers breach abandoned buildings all the time to steal all the copper from the buildings so they can sell it to a metal scrape yard. There is big money to be made doing that.
They don't realize the risk of getting arrested
😭
Question how did you found these the abandoned schools???
I call the school districts to find out what schools are closed and/or decommissioned. I also inquire which schools are scheduled for demolition.
Interesting
Were you there when they tore the school down? Do you have footage of demolishing?
No I was not there during demolition.
when will the hotchkiss update come out? I'm excited to see it
Should be before the end of this year.@@Vigilance108
well, I'm happy to know that the video will come out in 3 months, I'm happy to know that you're doing well in a cold world
SAVETHEOLDSCHOOLS!!!
this place looked so magical when it was in operation and still in good shape, such a shame that this school was met with a horrible fate
@@Vigilance108 Due to that i have been working on a PSA called save the old schools
that's a good thing you're doing, because there's not too many of these old schools left in the world
@@Vigilance108 IK
these old schools are a real gem to find, whoever is making the decision to tear down these old school buildings really needs to reconsider because, normally it costs more to tear down the building than to renovate the inside, the old fire alarm systems are extremely rare to find and the decision to tear down the buildings only makes them more and more hard to find, and whoever is stealing the brass bells is really ticking me off, but in the case of this particular school, it was too far gone to be renovated in the first place and due to the fact that a few weeks after the video was recorded, the inside was 10 times worse than when it was recorded, black mold in every place of the building, a ridiculous amount of asbestos and severe vandalism made it difficult to save the school, because of the black mold and other hazards this building had a lot of health code violations and it would cost too much to get rid of all the hazards and bring the building to health code standards, so those are your reasons why this particular building was demolished by the city of Akron maybe if it was in better shape than in this video, it would have been much cheaper to renovate the building and save money for more important things for the city instead of wasting the city's budget on a cheap school building with a fire alarm system that won't even last 20-30 years before it needs maintenance and other stuff, the end.
It didn't take long for vandals get it destroy inside take what thay want. back in 2020 video that school was build in 1918 did it get demolished yet
The 1918 school is still standing as of this writing.
The school was sold for over 77,000 dollars and is however still standing
@@Vigilance108 This school is gone. The demolition work finished up this week.
The school from the video "The Abandoned Fire Alarm"
@@adamhicks5550Let me make this very clear, Bettes Elementary School, the school that is featured in the video, The Vandalized Fire Alarm has been demolished. The school that is featured in the video, The Abandon Fire Alarm is still standing and HAS NOT been demolished.
It's already torn down?
Yes, this school is being demolished as of this writing.
@@OldSchoolFireAlarms. rip
Damn
Why did the school close
Watch the video and you will find out.
Why haven’t you posted for a while you on a long break or retired
Thank you for checking in on me. I'm still here and working on a new video that will post before the end of this year.
this is a very unique channel with unique videos that you don't see that often
Thank you, most appreciated.@@Vigilance108
Hotchkiss doesn't have too long left, several areas of the building are very dangerous to enter, I took a look at the school when I visited Akron a few weeks ago and it's in pretty rough shape, you might wanna save the old alarms while you still can because it's only a matter of time before the building is demolished and everything in the school will go down with it
Hey Oldschoolfirealarms,
I was wondering if you can give me advice. I'm trying so hard to preserve any fire alarm history left in my area, is there a better way to do so? I feel I have contacted so many people and have not gotten any responses, or have got some but then it falls off. I just want to preserve old fire alarm equipment and save it from the wrecking ball or the dump.
I would recommend becoming affiliated with some fire museum(s). Most school districts and other government agencies will not deal with average day citizens. You will have to have some credentials or be employed or affiliated with some organization and/or agency that deal in the collection of historical artifacts.
I'm happy to see you uploading again where were you?
@@Vigilance108 I had some family matters that took up a great deal of my time. I'm hoping to post more videos this year.
I still love your videos
@@Vigilance108 Thank you !!
Of course it was in OHIO 💀💀💀
at least OSFA is a good youtuber
@figm3nt0 leaked the name of the school in the abandoned fire alarm