On our original visit in 2002, we were told that the school had an alarm system and any attempts to enter would send the police. So instead of entering the building, we walked the entire perimeter of the school. We found the building itself seems to be in pretty good shape. While the graffiti is expected, we thought the inside of the building was probably well preserved due to the excellent boarding-up of the school. We were wrong.

We returned to Parsons School on December 7, 2003 after learning that a section of sheet metal had been torn down, making it possible to enter the building. Upon entering, it quickly became evident that the inside was not very preserved at all. All of the original ceiling had been ripped out when asbestos was removed from the school in the early 1990s. Water damage was prevalent throughout the building and holes were scattered about the roof. The stage in the auditorium/gymnasium/cafeteria was rotten, as well as the piano sitting on it. Graffiti covered the walls inside the building as it had on the outside.

Most of the classrooms were built in the same style, all having a sink with a build-in drinking fountain. Other than those things, most of the rooms were empty. Many of the restroom fixtures had been broken and busted up by vandals as well as the chalkboards and some windows. While the actual structure of the school seemed to be in good shape, the roof would have to be replaced and the inside gutted and replaced if the school was ever to be used again.

 In 2002, voters passed an issue for Columbus Public Schools to build new schools or update existing schools. It was decided that Parsons School would be razed to make way for a new school to replace the historic Scioto Trail Elementary School on South High Street, built in 1927, and the nearby Stockbridge Elementary School. These were the very schools where Parsons' students were reassigned when it closed in the 1970s.

In early January 2005, a demolition crew razed the old Parsons School so new construction could begin. The new Parsons School opened in August 2006 with 58,000 square feet that included seventeen classrooms, two kindergarten rooms, two preschool rooms, a gymnasium, cafeteria, art room, music room, media center, and administration offices. All that is left of the original Parsons School are the photos here and the memories of the baby-boomers who attended class there in the short 19 years it served as a school. The new Parsons Elementary School will provide new memories for generations to come.