Old Goldfield High School to Become an English Cathedral

Old Goldfield High School to Become an English Cathedral | Nevada News

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Goldfield High School will become St. Bernard’s Cathedral
Esmeralda County has announced that the crumbling hulk that was once the Goldfield High School had been purchased by a Las Vegas company intent on rebuilding it as a medieval cathedral. It would become the centerpiece of the English Village taking shape at the heart of the old city.“We think the combination of the tourist attraction and a film/tv set will be undeniable,” said County Commissioner Chad Sorg. “Think of it, an English village here in the desert, with hedges and cobbled streets and all, and at its center the great stone Cathedral, with wax figures from Madame Tussaud’s in Las Vegas arranged in tableaus and a nice Gift Shop.
“And every Downton Abbey wannabe director will want to take advantage of our modest film-set rates. Our business plan calls for offering visitors the chance to be film extras of our shooting days. For $100 a day they get to wear costumes while they wait around, and all the stale sandwiches they can eat (while they last).”
The project began five years ago a Goldfield couple was enjoying an afternoon refreshment in the shade behind their home when Bryn and Mattie Payson, tourists from England stopped and introduced themselves. They were on vacation in the USA, visiting ghost towns around the west in search of inspiration for the western town they are helping to build in Laredo.
“In the UK,” they explained, “there are many people like us who are dedicated to researching and portraying the characters from the American West as it really was during the period from 1840 to 1890. We promote a high standard of historical accuracy as Western re-enactors.”
The Goldfielders were so taken with their dedication and enthusiasm for the American West that they returned the favor by dressing and acting as Englishmen. They clap derby hats on their heads and tuck brollies under their arms for the stroll to the Queen’s Arms pub (aka the Northern Saloon) where they practice their English in accents ranging from Cockney to the plummy tones of the BBC: “I say old chap, will you join me in a pint of bitter?” “Oh, Jolly good show!” “Pip pip.”
The same entrepreneurial spirit that built Goldfield in the first place surfaced again as the plans for the English Village were drawn up on a cocktail napkin and a contingent was sent to Las Vegas to raise the funds. A federal grant was enough to overhaul the old school (disguised as restoration), and a personal loan from Sheldon Adelson brought in the money for the Village surrounding it. “I just love English history,” the multi-billionaire said.
Site clean-up has already begun as the debris and detritus of Goldfield’s mining era were swept up and hauled off to the dump. Construction of the Village will begin on May 2, the day following Goldfield’s First Annual Maypole Dance at the site. “Everyone is revved about the Maypole Dance,” Sorg said, “and right after that the outdoor sex begins.”
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2 thoughts on “Old Goldfield High School to Become an English Cathedral”

Bryn Payson on January 25, 2015 at 10:59 am said:

How wonderful to see that a project has been continued with the Old School House in Goldfield, just to be an instigator is wonderful.
Mattie and I are now quite heavily involved in the 1850’s street Victorian re-enactments, very authentic, what you might call ‘stitchcounters’ so would go alongside the Old School House very well.
Please feel free to browse our website, as above, you may just recognise a couple of faces, look hard as the faces are all in period dress, a lot is original.
Please contact me if you require any further information.
We did enjoy our brief visit to Goldfield all that time ago, although we have visited the States several times since we have not been able to take in Goldfield again, have you sold the Hotel yet? it’s only money!
Great to contact you, please put up any photographs of the progress that you are making.
Many,many regards,
Bryn and Mattie Payson.

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Slogger Rose on January 25, 2015 at 9:47 pm said:

What a fantastic project. We too were members of Laredo alongside Bryn and Mattie. My husband and I ran the saloon, it was brilliant, the whole family loved it and we made some life long friends there. As Bryn said, things have progressed now and we’re all founding members of our own group the ‘Ragged Victorians – The great un-washed’. We re-enact the lower classes of the early Victorian period, circa 1851 with the same enthusiasm and attention to detail as before. If we’re ever in America we will certainly seek out your village and visit, if you would be so kind as to let us.
Kindest regards
Slogger Rose

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