WAYNE -- Seventeen wooden desks dot the first floor of the North Wayne Schoolhouse. Five chalkboards remain attached to three freshly painted walls above the original wooden paneling.

The entryway will soon boast an original schoolhouse bench.

And on the second floor, those heading the effort to restore the schoolhouse plan to return a 1910 stage curtain, painted to depict a Roman charioteer urging on his horses, to its original position hanging in front of the schoolhouse stage.

Since 2006, a small group of residents here -- the North Wayne Schoolhouse Preservation Committee -- has spearheaded an effort to restore a two-story schoolhouse located at the heart of the once-vibrant North Wayne Village. Though some restoration work remains to be done, the group has made strides in restoring the structure since the members began their work.

Now, the preservation crew is preparing to show off its work to residents -- some who were students before the village school closed in 1962 -- at open-house events Aug. 9 and 10.