SARASOTA - Tuesday, Riverview High School students will begin their final week of classes at the old campus, which will be torn down this summer despite extensive efforts to save the Paul Rudolph-designed buildings.

Over the weekend, students, teachers and their families got to say goodbye.  On that old campus are 50 years of memories and 50 years of friendships formed.

A group from the class of '67 gathered there to get one last look at the school that forged their friendships.  "It's almost like people walking through a museum, kind of looking, thinking, reflecting...it's really special," says principal Linda Nook.

Generations were represented, including a father who was showing his old yearbook to his son, who is a student there now.

And former teachers came to say goodbye, too.

Ron Carr has a unique perspective.  He was one of the first students on the campus, and later, for 35 years, one of its most beloved teachers.  A lot has changed since he attended Riverview in the early 60's.  "The school was open...it was airy.  But as the school went beyond 1,200, it's just impossible to keep the same atmosphere.  So they had to add cafeteria space, they had to add library space, and each one of them took away the ambiance of what was Paul Rudolph's Riverview."

One of Carr's former students, Steve DeRose (class of '99), drove all the way from Charlotte, North Carolina to see his former school one more time.  "A lot of good memories from here...both friends and teachers.  I still stay in touch with a few, which I'm lucky to say.  It was a big part of my growing up and it's just great to come back...one last farewell before they take this thing away."

And there are memories there for ABC 7's Scott Dennis as well - Riverview class of '80.  Inside the music building, he found photos from the 1977-'78 Kiltie Band -- which included one particular geeky-looking trumpet player -- along with pictures from the 1980 Tournament of Roses parade where they marched his senior year.

And that's what the farewell to Riverview has brought to all of them: memories of high school, friendships, things they may have forgotten if not for the last tour of the campus.

Now if only they could remember where some of those memories are buried.  A time capsule from about 20 years ago still sits somewhere in the school's courtyard.  "We believed it was around the original flagpole.  When we dug up around it, it was nowhere to be found.  We will certainly scour the courtyard here and see if there's any chance that it's there," says Nook.

And the last word on Riverview goes to the man who taught speech and debate to so many on this campus.  "I hope when people drive down Proctor Road or by Riverview High School, they realize that progress is being made, that the new facility is giving students so much more than they could have in this particular building.  So I'm sad, but happy and looking forward to the future," says Carr.

Tuesday night ABC 7 will show you a behind-the-construction barriers tour of the new Riverview High School, on ABC 7 News At 11.