The Suburban and Wayne Times reported last week that the ceremonial groundbreaking of the new Radnor Middle School took place Saturday, December 10. Although there is news nearly every week on the process of finalizing the Middle School plans, this symbolic gesture was the first physical acknowledgement of the school's impending construction. Although the historic 1923 school building (formerly Radnor High School) will be lost, it seems that the district has outgrown the 82 year old building. Here are a few interesting bits of information about what once was, what is now and what's to come:

• The new school will be the fifth school building to be erected on the downtown Wayne site.

• The school will be built partially on the site of the former Radnor Presbyterian Church.

• The current Middle School, circa 1923, will be demolished. Once the junior and senior high schools, thousands of students called the building their second home.

• The Administration Building (formerly the Grammar School) will remain, as will the Sulpizio gymnasium.

• The Middle School Activities Center, the High School's original gymnasium (ca.1909), will be the first building to be demolished.

The new Middle School, as depicted in a computer rendering.