Former laundry, East Fork School still standing for now

More than two and a half years after being hit by a mini-van, the old Gardnerville laundry has yet to fall down.

Co-owner Dave Nishikida has been working to either sell the property or get it torn down.

He said he had a productive meeting with the county that gave him hope he would have the leeway to respond to a nuisance complaint filed by the town in June 2019.

Hit by a mini-van in March 2019, the building that started out as the East Fork grammar school has been vacant for a long time.

Nishikida told Gardnerville Town Board members on Aug. 3  that he’s working to either tear down the structure or sell it and the accompanying home.

Frieda Godecke reported the building was constructed as the East Fork School in 1876 and closed in 1915.

H.C. Elges moved the schoolhouse in 1916 from the old Matley Ranch three miles south of Gardnerville near Riverview and Highway 395, according to Godecke, to near the S-curve.

Elges remodeled the building to be a green goods and vegetable store, according to the March 16, 1917, edition of The Record-Courier.

After Elges’ death in 1918, the building became a laundry operated by George Oka from 1918 to 1940.

The Nishikidas took over the laundry just before the start of World War II. According to the Aug. 9, 1940, Record-Courier, Nishikida’s grandmother purchased the laundry from Frank Kato. The Nishikidas operated the laundry until 1989 when the state eliminated on-street parking.

One of the complications in tearing down the building is that it’s believed to contain hazardous dry-cleaning materials.

Nishikida said he’s been talking to the state about obtaining a Brownfield grant to clean it up.

Once that’s done, the building can be torn down safely. He said that his plan is to also try to sell the property and the neighboring parcel and house.

He said he’s had interest from another person who might be interested in purchasing the wood from the structure.

That might translate into an interest in purchasing the property, Nishikida said.

By selling the two parcels together, that could solve some of the parking issues for the property, which is right where the S-curve straightens out.

The laundry is not the only vacant building in downtown Gardnerville.