June, 2009 – Empire school, built in 1912 has just been closed pemannetly. Part of a slew of schools slated for closure, most heading to demolition. By 2025 there were strong plans to rehabilitate the school into a senior citizen residence, but, deadline for the funding gave out, and now the school is slated to be demolished. Some other schools, like Auburn, were saved, but, in 2026 Auburn got the axe along with a few others that were not demolished in hopes of saving them.
17 years after being closed, the final decision has come through and the school will be demolished. It was very close. The company had already committed to the project of rehabilitation, but it missed a deadline and that ended this project along with a number of other schools that had been saved since 2009 when they closed.