Forty Seventh Week, Saturday's "Medfield Historical Minute"

A Medfield Historical Minute...

This "Medfield Historical Minute" is brought to you by town historian Richard DeSorgher.
A little something to read and learn to give you a little break during this time of boredom during isolation due to the Coronavirus Crisis. A different "Medfield Historical Minute" will appear each day during the Crisis.

"On March 15, 1962 the malfunction of an oil valve in one of the oil burners at the Memorial School caused a smoke fire in the boiler. When the custodian opened the building in the early morning, he found that the oily and sooty smoke had traveled throughout the building. It was necessary to close the school for a week until the entire building was cleaned and repainted. Starting on March 16, all ceilings, walls, windows, floors, equipment and furnishings were washed and cleaned. All interior walls and ceilings were painted. All floors were waxed. All air ducts and heat convectors were thoroughly vacuumed and cleaned. The stage drapes were cleaned. The total cost of the cleaning came to $9,700. The school committee then ordered the entire re-wiring and installation of additional safety devices on both of the school’s oil burners. The cost for that was $1,500 and paid out of the regular school budget.

At the time the Memorial School held grades 1-4 and a total of 835 children."