Contributed Photo Lowry Middle School, circa 1940 Click on photo for larger image

Lowry to hold open house farewell

Tuesday, June 22, 2026

Some buildings close quickly, and without warning.

Businesses have put chains on their doors without even telling employees. But when the North Tonawanda Board of Education decided in May to close Lowry Middle School, many people wanted to give the 79-year-old site a proper sendoff.

That sendoff, an open house for the community, has been scheduled for 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday. The open house will give the community one last chance to walk the halls of the school so many residents and former residents walked through as youngsters.

Named after longtime North Tonawanda High School principal George Lowry, the building was originally named Payne Avenue School. It had been the city’s high school until becoming Payne Junior High School following the construction of the Meadow Drive facility that houses NTHS today.

Current Lowry principal Rick Barone said that once the decision to close the school was made, he wanted to have a final adieu that gave residents a chance to revisit the history of the school. While bittersweet, Barone would like the event to be an enjoyable walk down memory lane.

“We wanted to give the community the chance to say good-bye to the school,” he said. “It’s for anyone that attended the school who want to walk by their old homeroom. We have a lot of little activities planned.”

Some of those activities include a tour of the school, a continuous video loop of old photos, which will be shown in the school auditorium, a registration table which will document each visitor’s years of attendance at the school in a commemorative book.

Diana Corl, a parent-community representative of the school’s character education committee, took over the open house concept from Lowry teachers and administrators. In just a few weeks, she has gathered resources from across the community to make the night special for former pupils.

“Rick Barone mentioned that he wanted to do something to honor the building,” she said. “Teachers were overwhelmed with all their end of year stuff to do, so I stepped up to the plate as far as a committee/parent point of view.”

A similar school closure in Tonawanda nearly 20 years ago left much of the school’s history untouched for years. Only when the building was converted into senior housing did its history come to light after years of neglect. Corl does not want to see the same thing happen to Lowry.

“The old Kibler High School in Tonawanda, when it closed, the doors were locked and that was it,” she said. “It had fallen into disrepair and the windows had been broken. (When reopened), they discovered trophies that were still in the case. I didn’t want this to happen here.”

Those attending Wednesday’s open house are encouraged to bring a camera to take photographs as keepsakes. Also, anyone with historic photos or artifacts can bring them with them to the open house, Corl said. All photos and artifacts will be kept in a locked display case until the end of the night.

Those wishing to bring a photo or artifact can contact Corl at 694-9872 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Contact Sean P. O’Neilat (716) 693-1007, Ext. 117.
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