Well, even though the church board approved demolition two years ago, I can't say I saw this one coming. I cannot believe St. Stanislaus is demolishing its old school, especially when it's one of the few remaining structures that symbolizes St. Louis' Polish heritage, not to mention a significant part of one of the few remaining Catholic parishes in north St. Louis. And, of course, the city would never dare to say "no" to a demolition permit. Where's the outrage? 
Memories come alive as building awaits wreckers
By Georgina Gustin
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/30/2008
ST. LOUIS — When Lorraine Gawlak was Lorraine Podwojski and Antoinette Buffa was Antoinette Mantia, they used to cross North 20th Street every morning and walk from the building where their families lived to St. Stanislaus Kostka School.
Like all their classmates, they wore uniforms: pleated navy blue skirts, long-sleeved white shirts with a blue ribbon at the neck and stockings you couldn't see through.
"Summer or winter," Gawlak remembers.
They went to Mass every morning. They sat in class, with their eyes trained on the nuns at the front of the room, trying to be dutiful and good. And then, after eight years, they left for high school and the rest of their lives.Advertisement
On Saturday, Gawlak and Buffa stood in one of their old classrooms at the school, glancing around and sighing. Now 78 and 75 respectively, they had come back to say goodbye to the place that everyone in the St. Stanislaus community just calls "the old school."
"It's a shame they're going to tear it down," Buffa said. "But it's beyond repair now. They just let it go."
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