Fort Roosevelt, California
Encyclopedia
Fort Roosevelt was located at Roosevelt Elementary School in Hanford, California
. It was a 1 acres (4,046.9 m²) fort surrounded by almost 1000 telephone poles in the style of a fort from the Old West. World-class outdoor education was delivered there and Fort Roosevelt became a nationally recognized model for environmental education
in schools. The fort included a wildlife rehabilitation
center that served the entire San Joaquin Valley
. As a tourist attraction, it drew 30,000 visitors a year. The facility was started by then-principal Jim Parks beginning in the late 1960s. Heidi Arroues was the fort's facilitator from 1983 to 2005.
In 2005, the Hanford Elementary School District's board of trustees decided not to make needed repairs to Fort Roosevelt and the fort was demolished despite public opposition. The board was actually "strong armed" into destruction of the beloved Fort by Rebecca Presley, the Superintendent of the elementary school district at the time. She waged an unscrupulous heavy handed campaign involving attorneys and land developers which ultimately doomed the Fort. If it had not been for the historical classification of the train station that had been part of the Fort, it also would have been destroyed at her whim. Immediately after the demolition of the Fort, Ms. Presley, having been investigated no less than three times by the CA Grand Jury, retired and moved to Seattle, WA; ostensibly to be close to her children.
A film called Fort Roosevelt Requiem has been made by filmmaker David Dibble who had experienced the fort as a child.
Hanford, California
Hanford is an important commercial and cultural center in the south central San Joaquin Valley and is the county seat of Kings County, California. It is the principal city of the Hanford-Corcoran, California Metropolitan Statistical Area , which encompasses all of Kings County, including the cities...
. It was a 1 acres (4,046.9 m²) fort surrounded by almost 1000 telephone poles in the style of a fort from the Old West. World-class outdoor education was delivered there and Fort Roosevelt became a nationally recognized model for environmental education
Environmental education
Environmental education refers to organized efforts to teach about how natural environments function and, particularly, how human beings can manage their behavior and ecosystems in order to live sustainably. The term is often used to imply education within the school system, from primary to...
in schools. The fort included a wildlife rehabilitation
Wildlife rehabilitation
Wildlife rehabilitation is the process of removing from the wild and caring for injured, orphaned, or sick wild animals. The goal of wildlife rehabilitation is to provide the food, housing and medical care of these animals, returning them to the wild after treatment.-Process:Rehabilitation begins...
center that served the entire San Joaquin Valley
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...
. As a tourist attraction, it drew 30,000 visitors a year. The facility was started by then-principal Jim Parks beginning in the late 1960s. Heidi Arroues was the fort's facilitator from 1983 to 2005.
In 2005, the Hanford Elementary School District's board of trustees decided not to make needed repairs to Fort Roosevelt and the fort was demolished despite public opposition. The board was actually "strong armed" into destruction of the beloved Fort by Rebecca Presley, the Superintendent of the elementary school district at the time. She waged an unscrupulous heavy handed campaign involving attorneys and land developers which ultimately doomed the Fort. If it had not been for the historical classification of the train station that had been part of the Fort, it also would have been destroyed at her whim. Immediately after the demolition of the Fort, Ms. Presley, having been investigated no less than three times by the CA Grand Jury, retired and moved to Seattle, WA; ostensibly to be close to her children.
A film called Fort Roosevelt Requiem has been made by filmmaker David Dibble who had experienced the fort as a child.