Bristow Elementary School has changed dramatically since O’Dell Lewis attended the school in the early 1940s. He recalls an old building with wooden floors that workers oiled to keep from squeaking.

Students used outdoor restrooms, and the gymnasium was a tiny, concrete building.

“It’s much different,” said Lewis, of Bowling Green. “The difference in day and night.”

Lewis returned to the school for the first time Sunday as Bristow Elementary School hosted an open house to celebrate its new, state-of-the-art building, which opened in August.

It’s a completely different atmosphere than Lewis remembers. The $12.8 million building is one of a few new schools for Warren County Public Schools. It’s sleek, shiny and bright, with large rooms, new technology and several energy-efficient features.

“It’s bright, it’s cheerful and it’s a wonderful place to be for your kids,” Superintendent Tim Murley said. “I know it’s taken a lot of patience from a lot of people.”

Faculty, staff and students waited for the promised building for a while, and employees worked overtime during the summer to move into the new building. Officials initially were unsure whether the new school would open by Aug. 3, the first day for students. They got the green light to move in about a week before classes started.

But teachers, such as Angela Sexton, say the hassle was well worth it.

“It’s really a win-win situation for everybody. It’s a good investment of community dollars,” said Sexton, a special education teacher. “I would have loved to have a school like this.”

One of the biggest, and best, changes is more room, she said.

The 81,000-square-foot building is much larger than the former, one-story building.

While special education teachers still share a room, it’s a bigger space, which allows them to better engage their students, Sexton said.

“Last year, it was a closet-size,” she said about her instructional space. “So, it’s a big difference … there’s things we can do with our kids now.”

But teachers are not the only ones who appreciate the shift. Even though students have been in the school for months, some were eager to show their families the new classrooms, the big cafeteria and other amenities.

“It’s big,” said Sydney Pippin, 11, a sixth-grader. “There’s enough room for everybody.”

Principal Kim Wolfram vividly remembers the first day of school this academic year, when many children entered their new building for the first time.

“That first day to see the eyes of those children and the smiles on their faces,” she said, “to see this beautiful building that belonged to them.”

Students and employees have been patient the past couple of years as children went without a playground, and workers lost their parking lot, she said.

“The taxpayer paid for this,” Wolfram said, “and it’s part of the community.”

The oldest section of the former building was constructed in the 1940s. That building was plagued with problems for decades, some former students said.

Diane Forbes recalls Bristow when she attended the school in the mid-1960s. Back then, the school was too small to hold all students, and some trickled into outdoor classrooms.

“It was just old,” said Forbes, of Bowling Green. “I went to grade school in trailers.”

As Lewis gazed at Bristow’s new gymnasium, he remembered the tiny gym at his school, which was still standing when his son attended Bristow.

During basketball, “out-of-bounds was the wall,” he said.