WE FOUND
WHAT WAS LOST.
Ever Forward set out with an ambitious dream: to use (VR) Virtual Reality to bring back a local historical site that was lost to time. The result was a one-of-a-kind experience.
In 2009, Hillsboro High School - a 75-year-old neocolonial school building that housed 5 generations of students and teachers - was demolished.
The decision to tear it down was complicated - toxic asbestos, aging facilities, and state demolition funding were the primary reasons - but that didn’t make its absence any less painful. For 16 years the former site sat empty, a constant reminder that something meaningful, important, and beloved was gone. Forever.
In July 2025, on the 90th anniversary of when students first walked through its halls, the HHS VR Project will be officially unveiled at the city’s annual Festival of the Bells, allowing the Hillsboro community to experience the school again. Once the initial build is completed, we plan to share it with local high school CAD classes for educational purposes and future development.
That’s when we stepped in with an idea: “What if we brought the high school back…in Virtual Reality (VR)?” The community rallied behind the idea and within three months we had secured a build partner in McCarty Associates, raised $5,000 in crowdfunding, and began the process of bringing the school back to life.
VR models exist of the Roman Coliseum. The Statue of Liberty. The Titanic. But VR in a local, historical context? The HHS VR Project is the first of its kind. Our hope is that this project will offer the Hillsboro community a powerful opportunity to reconnect with its past, create space for shared healing, and influence other communities to follow our lead.