Village School

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This small brick school building sits on a patch of land in the heart of Closter. The facility, originally built for grades K-8, was erected in a renaissance revival style in 1900, four years before the boro was officially incorporated.

The school didn't need to be large, as Closter didn't have many residents at the turn of the century. The facility opened with three classrooms and an assembly space on the top floor.

The building was supplemented several times over the years. Just 7 years after opening a matching wing was added to the building, and the structure was again enlarged in 1912 and 1921. The school was now sufficiently large enough to house high school as well as K-8. 

The largest wing was added in the middle of the century. In keeping with trends of the time, the new wing didn't look anything like the original school. The building was eventually renamed, after a naming contest in 1955 in which a girl named Vicki Mall won. She got the name from her grandmother, who mentioned that some of the older citizens of the boro referred to it as the Village. By 1996, however, the school was outdated and too small. It was shuttered by the boro and sold the following year.

The building sat vacant for more than two decades before it was purchased by a group who planned to convert it into residential units. Work began in 2018 starting with the demolition of the mid century addition. Hopefully the renovation process wraps up soon, and the school can continue to be a part of Closters history.