Horace Mann Hosts First “History Harvest” in Series of Three

The events are designed to capture as many memories and artifacts from the closing elementary schools as possible, to both be placed on a digital time capsule and potentially considered for design elements of the new building.

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – On the evening of January 15 – Horace Mann Elementary let folks in outside of school hours for a special kind of open house.

Students, parents – anyone with memories of the historic building was welcome to share them at a variety of stations.

“We call it a History Harvest, because literally, we need to harvest the information from folks,” said Kyle Kvamme of ICON Architects with a laugh.

The History Harvest, though, isn’t just a chance to reminisce on all the good times that took place at Horace Mann. It’s an opportunity to actually infuse historical elements into new construction.

“We might have a legacy wall, a history wall, we might have graphics that are integrated within the building to illustrate things that represent the schools before or the spaces before,” said Kvamme when asked how the material could be used for design purposes.

Principal Leandra Ostrom says she can feel that love coming from visitors for the sense of community provided by the old structure.

“The stories that I hear are so endearing. And they’re so real,” she said.

She believes events like these help carry a school’s legacy from place to place, and ICON hopes the students feel the same way come the fall of 2028.

There are two more History Harvest events planned for the other elementary schools in question.

Madison will have theirs on January 22 and Roosevelt will have theirs on February 17.