Oh, if only these walls could speak - Czechoslovak Society of Arts ...

Selected Papers from the 2003 SVU North American Conference, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 26-28 June 2003
Consider a “playground” with only your imagination for creating games and sport. How
can you use an old water pump for amusement? What games of skill could be devised?
According to one boarder, Joe Spalla, the challenge was to see how many times an individual
could pump the handle without getting stung by the resident wasps. The record for pumps is held
by Joe - 6. However, it is a tainted record, since he sustained 10 stings in the process. On the
positive side, the day Joe set this “record” he received the only steak he ever got during the 8
years he boarded at the “convent”; unfortunately the steak was not cooked or ready for eating; it
was raw and applied to the stings.
The 1870 “Old School
The school stands on 10 acres of land deeded to the parish in December 1859 by Roman
Eggspuehler (a Swiss immigrant) and his wife Magdalene. Magdalene was the daughter of
Spillville’s founder Joseph Spielman.
There are several facts about the 1870 building worthy of note. They include:
• Research recently completed by myself validates that the St. Wenceslaus “Old School”, or
the home of J.J. Kovarik, and, “Home” to Dvorak’s Opus 96 and Opus 97, is the oldest
standing Czech Catholic School in the United States. It is also worthy to note that this
same research has determined that the St. Wenceslaus Church is the oldest standing Czech
Catholic Church in the United States.
• The Old School is an excellent example of vernacular (native to the country) masonry
construction.
• The foundation of the building is native limestone.
• The walls, fully 20 plus inches thick, are two parallel native limestone walls with “rubble”
fill in between. Construction of this type was an insulation technique.
• A mystery remains as to whether or not there were two front entry doors on the school at
one point in time; a north entrance and a south entry; one for the boys and one for the
girls. All known photos show the current one door facing east configuration. However,
recent bell tower foundation stabilization work revealed strong evidence that at least, a
south facing door was in place at one point in time.
The Future of the 1870 “Old School” Building
The future of the “Old School”, the “convent”, the J. J. Kovarik home, or the “Home” to
Dvorak’s Opus 96 and Opus 97 is in doubt as of June 2003. The Saint Wenceslaus parish has
little use for the structure. In 2001, the parish council recommended the building be razed. At
that time, a small group of individuals formed the Saint Wenceslaus Heritage Society. The
Mission Statement of that group is in part to “…seek to retain, restore, and maintain the religious,
architectural, historical and ethnic integrity of the St. Wenceslaus Church and its properties”.
While incredibly structurally sound after 130 years, there was some recent deterioration of
the foundation and walls associated with the bell tower. The Heritage Society was successful in
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