Friday marks 85 years since the bombings at a school in Bath Township, and residents are still trying to decide what to do with the only remaining piece of the building.

Bath's school building was a state-of-the-art example for other area schools before a school board trustee, enraged over a property tax debate, stuck hundreds of pounds of explosives in the basement.

He only managed to detonate half of them, but it was enough to kill almost 50 children and adults, making the disaster the country's deadliest mass murder ever to happen in a school.

The only piece of the school remaining is the cupola, standing in Bath's James Couzens Memorial Park.

It's the most important piece of history to the town, which inspired township trustee Rick Curtis to come up with a new design for a public memorial; placing it on top of a pavilion: "The folks have spoken. They're coming out to the meetings, highly in favor of it."

It is designed to be built in the same place and in a similar fashion to the school. For over three months he's talked with other committees, gaining everybody's approval, except for the final hurdle; a vote by the township board, where he sits.

Township Treasurer Jeff Garrity explains the reason for the hold up: "The main concern is that we get enough community input to feel comfortable making this decision. Right now I don't feel we're there."

Garrity says the board still needs to decide if they are going to add more park renovations to this proposal, including the possibility of public restrooms: "Let's think of, how do we design a nice park for the people of this community. The pavilion may be an aspect of that, there are other aspects to consider as well."

But Curtis says, making the proposal so broad would add months to planning: "This would have to be the cornerstone or the center piece of this park. If we want to do more in this park, we should really do this around that."

Both sides say that Monday evening's meeting will be yet another night to debate the details, especially since a deadline for a vote has not been set.

The hearing will begin at 5:00 p.m. at the Township Hall Building.