People had chance to see the good, the bad and the ugly.

On Saturday morning and Tuesday afternoon, Ironton school officials took interested local residents on guided tours of Ironton High School, hoping to show why voters need to approve the school bond issue and tax levy on the November ballot.

School officials are aware that some voters may question the need for building changes at all, while others question why the high school can't be saved.

The tour included both an inspection of classrooms and the building's structure - areas that school officials said are lacking in more ways the one.

School Superintendent Dean Nance pointed out that the size of Ironton High School's classrooms are small by state standards today: Of IHS' 44 classrooms, 33 have less than the 900 square feet stipulated by Ohio State School Facilities Commission guidelines for new classes today. Almost half of the rooms are 500 square feet or less.

"I know some people say 'well when I was in school here we had 40 kids in a class,'" Nance said. "And that may be true but that was back in the day when teaching was done differently. That was back before there were computers in classrooms and when group work was not as common and when students sat at their desks and teachers stood at the front of the classrooms."

Dale Clark, chairman of the committee to pass the school's bond issue and levy, said the old high school may look large, but much of its space is not classroom space. Rather, it is not chopped into small side rooms that are too small much of anything except storage. Clark said functional space - space used for classrooms - in most new schools is usually 83-85 percent of the square footage of the building. In IHS, functional space totals only about 63 percent, Clark said.

School officials pointed out that while classroom space may be limited, signs of wear and tear in the old building are numerous.

In the home economics rooms, the sub floor underneath the tile is deteriorating and cracking and causing tiles to crack. Flooring is an issue in many places: on the stage behind the curtains in the auditorium, the wood floor has holes in it.

Clark pointed out that in the original gymnasium, the roof leaks in places and drains that run vertically from floor to ceiling leak, too.

The building has no sprinkler system.

A grant has paid for new computers at the high school, but, as is the case in other school buildings within the city, there is not enough electricity to service those new computers. New outlets and breakers must be added before the computers can be turned on.

The boiler room, several yards from the back of the school, houses the apparatus to provide heat for the building. Nance pointed out that last year, old beams gave way, endangering the boilers and a large gas line underneath it. School officials spent in excess of $30,000 to replace the beams.

"If the beam had fallen on that gas line there, we wouldn't be talking about how much it would cost for demolition of the school," he said.

Heat and ventilation is one of the most frequent complaints expressed about all of the district's facilities but IHS in particular.

Mary Frances Near, who teachers social studies, geography and U.S. History said fluctuating temperatures are a problem in her main floor classroom.

In summertime, air conditioning is provided by a window unit. There are more than 130 window unit air conditioners scattered throughout the district's five school buildings.

"The air conditioning is great now but in January we have to stuff towels in the cracks to keep the cold air out," Near said. During winter months, heat comes from a register in one front corner. It does not often reach the back of the room near the windows.

"Some of the students will ask if they can go and get their coats to put on," Near said.

Nance pointed out that the air exchanger in the basement was installed when the school was built 83 years ago. Though it has had new parts installed, it is still 83 years old.

"This is what supplies the air for the entire school," he said.

Some who took the tour were amazed that the building - for good or for ill - still had essential original parts.

"It looks like something you'd find in a mine trying to hold up the ceiling," said Jodi Rowe Collins, one of the people who took Tuesday's tour. "Anything 83 years old, you have to imagine how it is still operating."

Jona Younce was one of three women who toured the high school together. She graduated from IHS in 1972 and while she lives in South Point now, she said she still is interested in what happens to her alma mater. Her trip back in time, however, left her a bit disoriented.

"The classrooms look smaller," she said. "But everything looks pretty much the same as it did then."

Sue Rodriguez took the tour Tuesday as well. At first, she expressed one sentiment.

"I don't see what's wrong with it," Rodriguez said. "My dad graduated from here in 1928 and I graduated in 1966. It's a beautiful old building. When I walk in here and smell that smell it brings back such memories and it's like I'm back in school again."

But by the end of the tour, Rodriguez said she had changed her stance a bit.

"It has some problems," she said. "I think more people should take the tour. There are some issues in that building."

A third tour is scheduled for Oct. 8.