Vacant School Building in Walsenburg CO

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Walsenburg and Huerfano County are located in southern Colorado along the margin of the mountains and plains, where the open ranch country to the east meets the towering beauty of Spanish Peaks, which loom above the surrounding countryside. Here the ground holds wealth in the form of great seams of bituminous coal, with the primary underground concentration of black gold running from northwest to southeast around and underneath the town of Walsenburg. The railroad arrived in the area in 1876 and mining camps soon emerged, employing thousands of men. After 1890, many of them arrived from southern and eastern Europe, bringing with them their wives and children. Toiling underground in dangerous working conditions, the miners extracted the fuel needed to operate blast furnaces in steel mills such as the Colorado Coal and Iron plant in nearby Pueblo (later renamed Colorado Fuel & Iron, or CF&I), which opened in 1879 under the ownership of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. Although the western steel industry and coal mining in Huerfano County grew moderately through the 1880s, the mining camps saw an intensification of activity beginning in 1890 when steel production increased, resulting in greater demand for coal.

Over the following thirty years, the coal mines and all of Huerfano County experienced a boom period that resulted in population growth and the development of new buildings to meet the needs of a growing community. Payrolls from the mining camps reached hundreds of thousands of dollars each month, money that went into area businesses and tax coffers, boosting the local economy and resulting in the growth of Walsenburg, which served as the county seat and market center. The increase in numbers of residents between 1890 and 1920 in Walsenburg, the nearby town of La Veta, and the area's many coal camps was accompanied by growing educational enrollment. Elementary-age children residing in the coal camps typically attended camp schools, which were more often than not established and controlled by the mining companies. Those who lived in the towns of Walsenburg and La Veta, as well as the children from mining camps close to town, were more likely to attend the public schools in those communities.

By the 1910s, many schools built during the pioneer era of the 1800s had aged and were no longer capable of handling the numbers of students attending them. They were also sorely lacking in modern technological improvements such as centralized systems of heating, ventilation, plumbing and electricity. Although economic conditions differed from one locale to another in Colorado, many school districts in growing areas of the state experienced the same general concerns and challenges during the first decades of the 20^th Century. Through public debate and the allocation of funding, progressive supporters of modern education (who often also opposed child labor) led their communities toward the goals of constructing new schools, consolidating small districts into larger ones, and establishing public high schools to encourage families to seek a higher level of education for their children.

The first high school in Huerfano County was established in Walsenburg in 1892, with one teacher instructing eleven children attending grades seven through twelve. Graduation exercises were first held in 1897. Four years later the number of graduating students had risen to twenty-one and in 1901 the district inaugurated its first four-year course of high school instruction. These early classes were held in the Odd Fellows Hall in Walsenburg. In 1906 the school became known as Huerfano County High School even though it had no building of its own. Ten years later, classes were held in the Armory Building, which burned the following year. The high school then moved into the old Hill School and Chapman Hall, with classes meeting six days each week during World War I. In 1916 the combined population of both Walsenburg and La Veta High Schools was approximately 140 students.

During the 1910s, Walsenburg boasted three brick public school buildings, in which a total of twenty-five teachers were employed at an average salary of $98 per month. By 1919 the county school system was made up of forty-one districts with 110 teachers working at sixty-two buildings scattered throughout the countryside, a number of them at area coal camps. The county system in 1916 was educating a total of just over 3,500 students. These rural teachers made an average of $80 per month. All of the town and country schools handled primary grades one through eight, with some children from the two dozen coal mines immediately surrounding Walsenburg attending school in town. Walsenburg High School operated under the guidance of Principal Charles Albert Johnson, who remained in this position from 1917 through 1927 and was the new Huerfano County High School's first principal after 1920. Walsenburg had over 1,700 children enrolled in its primary and high schools in 1919, approximately 140 of them in the upper grades. In addition to the public schools, Walsenburg maintained a Catholic school with a total enrollment of 500-600 children.

The small percentage of older children able to continue their education attended either Union High School in La Veta or Walsenburg High School. Most of the children from the coal camps did not attend high school at all, partly due to their restrictive distance from the schools at a time when traveling even five miles each way presented a major challenge for students with no access to transportation. Others did not attend because the mining camp mentality stressed practical learning, viewing higher education as an unnecessary luxury for children destined to become miners and miners' wives. In addition, each family sending a child to high school was required to pay one dollar per month in tuition, a sum that struggling miners could not afford. Teenage boys typically ended up working in the mines, while the girls became wives and started having children themselves. The end result of this combination of discouraging factors was that few children from the coal mines attended school beyond the eighth grade.

Among the several thousand students receiving public school education in Huerfano County were hundreds from coal mining families, many of them with immigrant parents who were not only illiterate but spoke little English. In 1920, thirty percent of the students were classified by a recent census as of "Spanish" background, thirty percent of other undefined races (probably what would be classified as "nationalities" rather than "races" today), and the remainder of English, Scottish and Irish origin.

Attendance at school, for as many years as possible, was seen by civic leaders and reformers as the key to helping these children from working-class, immigrant households become Americanized, providing them with the tools they would need to succeed in life. The schools in Huerfano County acted as melting pots that brought children of many different nationalities together to forge a common bond as Americans. Even with this laudable goal, however, they often found the school environment filled with tension between different ethnic groups and between town-dwellers and coal mining families. Progressive reformers persisted though with their belief that education would eventually conquer these divisions. Together with securing adequate funding and hiring dedicated administrators and teachers, the most important factor in delivering on the promise of education was having modern school buildings in which teaching and learning could effectively take place.

By 1917 the building used by the high school in Walsenberg had aged and reached its limits to accommodate students. On November 1^st, the interior suffered fire damage and had to be rebuilt. Although this was accomplished within a few months, some of the families and civic leaders of Huerfano County began to press for the construction of a modern high school building for their children. However before the majority of citizens would approve the funding for a new school, the public had to be convinced that such a large expenditure was really necessary.

On April 10^th 1919, the Walsenburg World published a front-page article about Colorado's high standards for its schools. Praising the dedicated citizens of the Centennial State, the paper congratulated them for their forward-thinking support of children through the construction of modern educational buildings that served as settings for implementation of the latest in educational philosophy and practice. Throughout the state several elementary, junior high, and high schools were constructed during the World War I era in rural towns such as Sterling, Fort Morgan, Rocky Ford, Greeley, Durango and Alamosa. Urban communities made great strides in replacing aging buildings with new ones. In the rural areas, efforts were made to consolidate one-room country schoolhouses into larger facilities and separate students by age and grade. The construction of centralized modern schools changed the face of education in Colorado for decades to come. Many of the new high schools were also designed to serve as community centers, where not only classes took place but where the citizenry could gather for athletic competitions, celebrations, and cultural events.

Some citizens of Huerfano County rejected the notion that a new high school was necessary at any cost. Others, such as local businessman Louis B. Sporleder, supported the construction of a school but did not agree with the purchase of land. His argument was that one of the community's wealthy landholders should donate ground for this purpose, asking them "to make a financial sacrifice for the good of the whole county." Sporleder believed that this would eliminate competition among speculators who were asking the school board to pay exorbitant prices for their properties. The final group of citizens believed that a new school was necessary at any cost, including that of the land. The argument over whether to construct a new high school for Huerfano County, and how it would be paid for, played itself out through articles and editorials published in Walsenburg's two competing newspapers.

While supporting construction of the new high school, the editor of The Walsenburg World expressed his opinion that the school board should purchase the land rather than seeking a donation. His reasoning was that the construction of a school should not be approached as a charitable endeavor, but one in which the taxpayers should expect to contribute fully just as they would with a courthouse, town hall or jail. The donation of a piece of land would, the editor believed, circumvent this public duty and limit the school board to working with the conditions, or even limitations, of that single donated property rather than seeking the location that would best suit the needs of the children for the foreseeable future.

The Independent, also published in Walsenburg, came out strongly in support of the effort and published frequent articles and editorials on its behalf. Calling for a modern, well-designed building of quality construction, the newspaper stressed that it should include good lighting and the latest in heating and ventilation systems. In June 1919 the editor wrote that "It was a shame that the class which graduated this month was compelled to be cooped up in such a place during their term. It is nothing less than a crime to force young people who are striving to secure an education by which to combat the problems of life to undergo what our high school students have endured. Every up-to-date community recognizes that its right to recognition by the world at large is measured by its pride in good schools … " The paper called for the citizenry to support the project, while at the same time encouraging local property owners to consider donating land for this purpose.

Calling upon the memory of the pioneers in support of the school project, the Walsenburg World wrote that "The sturdy men of former days spent their time, their money and their lives in building up free institutions on the slopes of the Rocky Mountains, and the pioneers of Huerfano County had their share in this great work. We must not let the work they accomplished go for naught. The only way to carry on the work they so nobly began is to foster and build up the educational advantages which they have bequeathed to us for our children." Writing in The Independent in favor of the project, Addie Viola Hudson, wife of a local rancher, businessman and future state senator, echoed this sentiment. She also focused upon the problems of illiteracy and child labor, both in Colorado and throughout the nation. To those who argued that the cost of a new school was excessive and unnecessary, Hudson replied that each taxpayer's share would be minimal: "It is a small sum to keep in your pocket and let the child pay - pay in lack of development, pay in lack of opportunity, pay in the priceless coin of a shining mentality, and it is the poor child that will pay the biggest price, for the man who can afford it may send his child away but on the ripening autumn day, when that one child leaves for a broader educational field, there will remain at home some lonely little hearts beating a farewell to many, many things."

On July 7^th 1919, a light turnout of voters went to the polls and approved the bond issue for the school by a majority vote of 65 in favor, allocating $5,000 for the purchase of property and another $85,000 for construction costs. The Independent editorialized a few days later that "the enterprising citizens of the county are tired of having their boys and girls herded in the old building used for the past few years and voted in favor of the bonds."

In the wake of the contentious situation surrounding the question of building a new high school, and even though the bond issue was approved, the editor of The Independent lashed out as he was no longer able to restrain himself:

The newspaper hailed the work of the Walsenburg Commercial Club and County Superintendent of Public Schools Martha Thorne for their support of the bond issue and effort to construct the new school.

Responding to The Independent's "tirade" of the previous week, the editor of the Walsenburg World responded that rather than entrenched "republican bosses" seeking to defeat the project, the school question had previously been voted down by the citizenry of the county. His view of the situation was that those persons who had formerly rejected the notion of a new school, leading to the issue's defeat in prior voting, were now the ones in support of the project. The editor of the Walsenburg World felt that politics and personal grievances were stirring up animosities over the school issue and that it was high time to set these aside in light of the recent vote in favor of the bond issue. Seeking to bring the community together over the project, the paper encouraged its readers to move forward and focus instead upon the task of building a modern facility for the children.

On the last day of July 1919, the Superintendent of Schools published a notice that the High School Committee would receive bids for the bonds to finance the new building at any time prior to 1:00 pm on the 7^th of August. These would consist of eighty bonds, each with a value of $1,000, together with another twenty bonds valued at $500 each. All would bear an interest rate of 5% per annum, maturing thirty years from the date of issue, and would be sold to the highest qualified bidder. Eight investors submitted bids to purchase the bonds, together with earnest money in the form of certified checks for $1,000. The entire issue of $90,000 was sold to the Denver brokerage firm of E. H. Rollins & Sons.

While the bond sale was being arranged, the school district advertised for architectural plans. On July 11^th, The Independent printed an architectural rendering of the new school on its front page, showing a handsome two-story Classical Revival building that looked nothing like the building found there today. This plan was clearly not used, and the reason for the change was not recorded. What is known is that the school district ultimately approved plans submitted by the firm of Rapp & Rapp, based in nearby Trinidad. Isaac Rapp was noted by that time for his numerous buildings of a variety of types and styles throughout southern Colorado, New Mexico, and the Texas panhandle, many of them prominent public and commercial buildings. A number of these remain standing today. Although hailed in later years for his pioneering work in the Pueblo Revival or "Santa Fe" style of architecture, when it came to the Huerfano County High School project Isaac Rapp employed the Collegiate Gothic design the firm had utilized earlier for buildings at the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell (especially the Hagerman Barracks), Marian Hall in Santa Fe, and the 1918 Raton (New Mexico) High School gymnasium and remodel.

Isaac Rapp's career traversed the years from 1885 until 1930, a period during which he designed numerous buildings utilizing a variety of styles and became known as a gifted architect. Not only did he pioneer what became known as the Santa Fe style in New Mexico during this period, but he also prepared plans for many other properties throughout the region that have become recognized as architectural masterpieces. Born in New York City in 1854 and raised in Carbondale, Illinois, Isaac Rapp grew up in a family of nine children that was to produce five architects, all sired by a father who himself was a successful architect and building contractor. The two youngest sons eventually formed the famed Chicago architecture firm of Rapp and Rapp, known for their masterful theater designs. Isaac, however, moved initially to Anthony, Kansas in 1885, where he became partners there with architect Charles W. Bulger. The two designed a number of buildings in that community but after a few years were ready to move their practice farther west.

In April 1888 they arrived in Trinidad, Colorado and decided to establish an architecture firm there that specialized in public and commercial buildings, although the partners also took on residential commissions. Despite the fact that they began to receive contracts for work, the partnership dissolved in 1891 when Bulger abandoned Colorado for Texas to relieve an ongoing struggle with what appears to have been altitude sickness. Isaac was then joined in the firm by his brother, William Morris Rapp, who had been working as a draftsman with an architectural firm in Wichita, Kansas. With William's arrival the same year Bulger left, the practice was renamed I. H. and W. M. Rapp, also known as Rapp & Rapp. William remained actively involved in the business until his unexpected death in 1920. The Rapp brothers were also joined by Arthur C. Hendrickson in 1904, who started as a draftsman, became a full partner in 1909, and stayed with the firm until he also died in 1921.

Throughout their years together, the three partners played distinct roles in the firm's operation and success. William Rapp primarily oversaw the firm's administration and Arthur Hendrickson handled construction oversight. Isaac Rapp was in charge of the firm, the one most intimately involved in creative design work on all of its commissions and who is rightfully credited with its architectural products. Rapp, Rapp and Hendrickson spent the better part of two to three decades creating an array of architectural masterpieces that changed the face of growing western communities such as Trinidad and Walsenburg in Colorado and Las Vegas, Raton and Santa Fe in New Mexico.

Following the deaths of his two partners within a short time span, Isaac Rapp withdrew somewhat from active practice and accepted a much smaller number of commissions throughout the 1920s. Surrounded by family, friends and many of the buildings he designed in the city of Trinidad, he enjoyed a quieter lifestyle before closing the firm around 1930, followed by his death in 1933. In light of the history and achievements of the Trinidad-based architectural firm of Rapp & Rapp, the 1920 Huerfano County High School was one of the last commissions completed by the intact partnership of Isaac Rapp, William Rapp, and Arthur Hendrickson before the firm was changed forever by the demise of two of the three partners over the following year.

With the plans prepared by the Rapp firm over the summer of 1919, the school district advertised in early September 1919 that it was ready to accept construction bids for the new high school. The contract was awarded to Emilio Ghione, a local builder and general contractor. Born in Italy in 1883, Ghione immigrated to the United States as a young man and settled in Trinidad, Colorado. Over the following decades he worked as a builder in southern Colorado, northern New Mexico and Utah. In 1909 he resettled in Walsenburg, where he spent the remainder of his life. From that year until the late 1940s, Ghione constructed many of the new buildings in the town. Among the first of these was the St. Charles Hotel. In addition to the Huerfano County High School in 1920, he constructed the St. Mary Rectory, Lamme Hospital, the Joseph Building, and the home of Dr. James Lamme Jr. Emilio Ghione was also responsible for the construction of many of the mining camp buildings in the Walsenburg area. He died in 1957 and was buried in Walsenburg at St. Mary Cemetery.

A sizable block of land located north of downtown along Walsen Ave. was secured for the school and construction commenced. In November another controversy erupted over the handling of how the school site was chosen, combined with the noticed lack of a substantial basement for the building. These concerns led to public criticism of the school board's insular decision-making process and lack of willingness to consult with interested parties in the community during the planning stage. The board was roundly criticized by the editor of the Walsenburg World, who wrote that "It is hoped that the high school board will correct this error in judgment before it is too late. We have little hope that the board will do anything of the kind. The history of the board shows that it is too self confident. The only co-operation that it desires is the cooperation of 'us members of the board' and no more." The criticism apparently was ignored and construction continued as planned.

As construction continued through the winter and into the spring of 1920, the real estate community in Walsenburg began to promote residential building lots on the blocks surrounding the school site. Neelley & Co. Real Estate, hoping to cash in on the nearby public construction project, announced a thirty-day sale of choice residential lots beginning 1 March 1920. In a large advertisement published in the Walsenburg World on February 19^th, the firm encouraged readers to build a new home on several blocks across Spruce St. to the south and southwest of the school site in the Capitol Hill Addition.

By December 1920 the construction neared completion and a grand opening was planned for that month. However the public reception scheduled for the 22^nd had to be postponed until after New Year's as light fixtures had not yet been installed in part of the building. Classes commenced following the winter holidays although work continued over the following months stocking the building with necessary equipment and school supplies. The domestic science class opened the cafeteria in the new building, where nutritious meals were efficiently offered to the students. These classes prepared and served the food, which was made available to the students at noontime. This allowed the school to shorten the noon recess by fifteen minutes as more students could eat there rather than travel to home and back for lunch. A blackboard presented the modest prices of food items available for the day and attendants loaded trays with each student's selections. Other posted signs directed students where to return their trays and dirty dishes when finished. The concept of an on-site school cafeteria was something novel at the time in small-town communities, and it was received with a positive response from students, faculty and staff.

After much work and anticipation the new Huerfano County High School was completed and a public opening scheduled for 18^th February 1921. At the grand opening, faculty members and administrators held an open house so the citizens of the county could tour their new building and enjoy refreshments. A few months later, at the end of the school year, the first class of students to use the new high school held their graduation exercises at the Star Theater. With a total of eighteen students, this was the largest graduating class in the history of the high school. After the ceremony, the students and guests returned to the school for an open house with refreshments and dancing.

In 1925, Isaac Rapp was approached again by the school district with a request to design a gymnasium-auditorium addition that would be attached to the northwest end of the original building. This $50,000 addition, matching the Collegiate Gothic style of the 1920 building, was completed during the spring and summer of 1926. The students celebrated the construction of the gymnasium, prior to which basketball games were held in the town's cramped Armory. Together with providing ample room for sporting events, the addition held a performance stage in its southwest end, complete with theatrical lighting, a fly loft, and a baby grand piano. The hybrid gym and auditorium was also equipped with a projector and screen for the display of motion pictures. By 1928, the Huerfano County High School building was hosting not only upper-level high school students, but was also serving as the area's junior high as well. With its ample space, the building was capable of taking in the additional students attending middle grades and continued to do so for decades. In 1930-31, the open ground west of the school was donated to the district by the town's namesake, Fred Walsen, and developed into an athletic field to be used for football, baseball and track events.

Between 1940 and 1957, a variety of improvements were made to the Huerfano County High School. Trees were planted around the building, many of which remain on the site today. The year 1945 saw the installation of a new heating plant and colored linoleum floor tiles were placed in the halls and stairways. In 1947, the janitor's apartment was converted into a dedicated cafeteria for school lunches. The Tioga School was moved into the southwest corner of the site in 1955 from the coal mining camp of Tioga, about twenty miles to the northwest of Walsenburg, to provide space for band classes. Known for years as the Band Cottage, it remains in use today for offices. The 1926 gymnasium-auditorium building was heavily damaged by fire in 1974. Rather than restoring the building, it was torn down at that time and two years later replaced by the block-shaped gymnasium that remains there today. In 1975, the high school students were moved to a new building in town and the 1920 Huerfano County High School entered a new phase of its history as the Walsenburg Middle School until it was vacated in 2004.

Building Description

The 1920 Huerfano County High School is found along Walsen Ave. in the north-central area of the southern Colorado town of Walsenburg. Located along the southwest side of the street between W. Elm St. and W. Spruce St., the property consists of a rectangular parcel of land oriented lengthwise on a northwest-southeast axis. The middle of the site contains the three-story 1920 school building, which faces onto Walsen Ave. To the northwest of this building, and connected to it by an enclosed one-story causeway, is the 1976 gymnasium addition together with the one-story locker room/weight room addition that attaches to the rear of both buildings.

Surrounding the Huerfano County High School are landscaped grounds with sidewalks, grass and mature trees on the northeast and southeast. Southwest of the building is a paved schoolyard with basketball courts, bordered by a chain-link fence that marks the southwest boundary of the property. South of the school, in the southwest corner of the site, is the small L-shaped Tioga School building, which was constructed at another location in 1920 and moved onto this site in 1955.

Beyond the property lines of the Huerfano County High School, the site is surrounded by W. Elm St. to the northwest, Walsen Ave. to the northeast, W. Spruce St. to the southeast, and the school football field to the southwest.

The 1920 Huerfano County High School, with a footprint of 58' x 156', is a large asymmetrical rectangular building that is categorized stylistically as Late Gothic Revival, in this case more appropriately termed Collegiate Gothic. Fronting prominently toward the northeast, the three-story masonry building rises from a below-grade poured concrete foundation and is finished on the exterior with reddish-brown bricks laid in common bond coursing. Every seventh course of brickwork consists of alternating headers and stretchers. The walls are broken up by the presence of numerous pairs and bands of windows that minimize the amount of brickwork and emphasize the building's horizontal appearance.

Brick wall buttresses rise at the building's southeast and southwest corners and are also present at various locations along the northeast, southeast and southwest elevations. Those along the walls terminate at the third floor level and are broken visually along their vertical length by concrete canted molding placed at the points where they are even with the tops of the adjacent second and third floor windows. The corner buttresses rise above the parapet, where they terminate with concrete bands, inset panels, and coping. Additional decorative features on the exterior walls include brick diamonds, vertical bands, continuous lintel courses, brick label molds, and basket weave patterns. The lower continuous lintel course runs around the entire building above the first floor windows and is formed of brick soldiers flanked by bands of recessed stretchers. Toward the top of the walls is another continuous lintel course of brick soldiers above the third floor windows. This course is capped by a horizontal band of shaped concrete that runs around the entire perimeter of the building.

A large off-center decorative portion of the facade contains three stories of paired classroom windows flanked by two octagonal brick turrets. Flanking the central set of windows are brick wall buttresses with canted molding. The turrets are ornamented to the second floor level with canted and shaped concrete molding set into the brickwork. They then rise above the roof line, where they are further decorated with horizontal concrete banding, inset square concrete panels, and shaped concrete coping. Connecting the turrets to one another is a tall castellated brick parapet that features a basket weave pattern, vertical banding, and concrete coping. Overall, this segment of the building projects the appearance of an armory.

The slightly off-center projecting main entrance on the northeast, just over one story in height, is constructed of brick that matches the walls of the building. The vestibule is framed by an angled brick segmental Tudor arch composed of bands of several courses of both stretchers and headers. Above the arch is a shaped parapet with concrete coping. Inside the vestibule, flush with the main wall of the building, is the main entrance with its two pair of hollow metal doors with one light in each. Above the doors is the original horizontal band of eight transom lights. The main entrance is located at grade.

Capping the building is a flat roof, bordered by a brick parapet wall. The parapets are castellated around the entire perimeter and capped with shaped concrete coping. One large brick chimney capped with concrete coping extends above the roof toward the rear center of the building. This handles exhaust from the boiler. Also on the roof are nine ventilator chimneys in various locations that were designed to remove stale air from throughout the building. Constructed of brick, they are all capped with flat concrete slabs.

The northeast front elevation of the school faces onto the front grounds and Walsen Ave. The facade is dominated by the main entry vestibule, windows, and decorative features described above. Windows on the first floor include seven pair of 3-light windows, a band of three 3-light windows, and one smaller 3-light window. The second floor has five pair of 3-light windows, two bands of three 3-light windows, and a band of five 3-light windows. On the third floor are three pair of 3-light windows, two bands of three 3-light windows, and two bands of five 3-light windows. All of the windows have concrete lug sills and steel and brick lintels. The lintel courses on the first and third floors are continuous, extending around the entire perimeter of the building. On the second floor, the windows all have brick label molds. The original windows on this elevation were 6/6 double hung sashes that were replaced around 1975 with those found there today. The current 3-part windows predominantly include operable lowers with aluminum panels or fixed lights above. Among the bands of three or five windows, the center or alternating spaces are entirely filled with aluminum panels.

The southeast elevation of the school faces onto the adjacent landscaped grounds, the Tioga School building, and W. Spruce St. This elevation is dominated by windows and decorative brickwork, with no entries of any kind. Windows on the first floor include two pair of 3-light windows, one 3-light window, and one bricked in former window space. The second floor has one pair of 3-light windows, two individual 3-light windows, and two single-light windows, one of which is very small. On the third floor are one pair of 3-light windows, one band of three 3-light windows, and one small single-light window. All of the windows have concrete lug sills and steel and brick lintels. The lintel courses on the first and third floors are continuous, extending around the entire perimeter of the building. On the second floor, the windows all have brick label molds and brick lintels and surrounds. The original windows on this elevation were mostly 6/6 double hung sashes that were replaced around 1975 with those found there today. The current 3-part windows predominantly include operable lowers with aluminum panels or fixed lights above. In the third floor band of three windows, the center space is entirely filled with an aluminum panel.

The southwest rear elevation of the school faces onto the adjacent paved schoolyard grounds, beyond which is the football field. Because this is the rear of the building, decorative features on this elevation are minimal. The elevation is dominated by windows and brickwork, along with two entries to the building.

Windows on the first floor include three bands of three 3-light windows, one small glass block window, and three boarded former window spaces. The second floor has three bands of three 3-light windows, three individual 3-light windows, and one band of five 3-light windows. On the third floor are three bands of three 3-light windows, a single 3-light window, and two bands of five 3-light windows. All of the windows have concrete lug sills and steel and/or brick lintels. The lintel courses on the first and third floors are continuous, extending around the entire perimeter of the building. On the second floor, some of the windows have brick label molds. The original windows on this elevation were 6/6 double hung sashes that were replaced around 1975 with those found there today. The current 3-part windows predominantly include operable lowers with aluminum panels or fixed lights above. Among the bands of three and five windows, the center or alternating window spaces are entirely filled with aluminum panels. Also found on this elevation, providing light into the interior stairwells, are four large glass block panels with concrete lug sills and brick lintels.

Both entries to the building, located at the bases of the stairwells, contain a pair of hollow metal doors with single lights. These are set into projecting brick vestibules with shed roofs and short parapet sidewalls with concrete coping.

Also projecting from the building below the first floor windows in the southern half of the building is the large, low, shed-roof, poured concrete underground boiler room for the building. Attached to the main building's rear wall, the boiler room stretches between the two doorways at the stairwells. Its only other defining feature is a louvered vent on the southwest side.

The northwest elevation of the school faces onto the adjacent 1976 gymnasium addition. This elevation contains no windows and little in the way of decorative features as on the other elevations. Entries are centered on the wall, with one on each of the first, second and third floors. The first floor entry is enclosed within a one-story causeway that runs between the 1920 school and the 1976 gymnasium. To the northwest of the causeway, toward the rear of the building, is the one-story locker room addition and to the southeast is an exterior metal stairway to the upper floors and a one-story utility entrance constructed of concrete blocks.

From Walsen Ave., the stairway and utility entrance are all that can be seen to connect the school to the gymnasium. On the second and third floors the exterior stairs rise to landings, at which are hollow metal doors that provide emergency egress from the school building.

The lower northwest corner of the building is partially obscured by the one-story locker room/ weight room addition that wraps around the back of the school and gymnasium. Because of the minimal connection at this location, the addition's presence has resulted in minimal impact to the original 1920 school building.

The interior of the school building retains its original layout of double-loaded hallways and rooms, along with a small degree of its original finishes. The partial basement, found under the southwest area of the building and accessed at the base of the south stairwell, contains a large maintenance shop and the boiler room. On the first floor is the main entry foyer, which bisects the central northwest-southeast hallway. This hallway is lined by the lunchroom, kitchen, offices, stairways, and classrooms. The second and third floors are virtually identical, consisting of a main hallway flanked by classrooms. The library is located at the south end of the building. Other than the surviving general layout, historic features that remain inside the building are limited to some exposed wood floors, wood panel doors, old lockers, wood trim and window frames, and wooden chalk rails. Much of the interior has been remodeled several times.

The 1976 gymnasium and locker room/weight room additions are located to the northwest of the original school building. These are minimally attached to the historic building by the enclosed one-story causeway along the north-central wall of the school and by the one-story locker room/weight room addition that wraps a short distance around the northwest corner of the 1920 building. From Walsen Ave., the 1920 school and 1976 additions appear to be very minimally attached and are in fact two distinct buildings. The rectangular gymnasium, constructed of concrete block lower walls with ribbed sheet metal walls above, and the concrete block locker room/weight room addition, are featureless, utilitarian, block-like buildings with no distinguishing architectural characteristics of note.

To the northeast of the school is a large grassed area that contains a number of mature trees, with a line of these stretching along the northeast boundary of the property along Walsen Ave. between the curb and sidewalk. The grounds are bisected by a main entry sidewalk that runs from the building's front entry toward the northeast, where it meets the sidewalk that runs along the southwest side of Walsen Ave. Two flagpoles are present in front of the building. A very old, tall pole is located near the curb of Walsen Ave. in front of the main entrance. A second shorter flagpole, dating from 1974, is found near the entrance to the building along with a plaque stating that it was donated by the Walsenburg Rotary Club.

To the southeast of the building is a grassed area that contains several mature trees. Beyond the landscaping, along W. Spruce St., is a narrow on-site paved parking lot capable of holding a small number of cars.

To the southwest of the school is the paved playground, which is partly occupied by the boiler room roof that projects from the building. This area of the property is mostly occupied by a series of small basketball courts.

To the northwest of the building are the 1976 gymnasium and weight room/locker room additions, which occupy almost the entire area of the property in this direction. The only remaining open space to the northwest is a narrow on-site parking area along W. Elm St. that holds a small number of cars.

Front of the school from across Walsen Ave (2005)

Northeast and southeast elevations from the corner of the site at Walsen Ave. and W. Spruce St (2005)

Main entrance to the school (2005)

Main entrance and octagonal tower above (2005)

Southern of the two octagonal towers on the facade (2005)

Ornamental portion of the facade flanked by two octagonal towers (2005)

rear, or southwest elevation, of the school (2005)

Northern edge of the site along W. Elm St. with the 1976 gymnasium addition on the left (2005)

Gymnasium addition from the rear along W. Elm St., with the lower one-story locker room addition below (2005)

Connection between the 1920 school building (on the left) and the 1976 gymnasium addition (on the right). This is the view that can be seen from Walsen Ave (2005)

W. Spruce St. elevation of the Tioga School building that was brought onto the site in (1955)

Outhwest elevation of the Tioga School building from the adjacent athletic field (2005)

Interior of the main entrance to the 1920 high school building (2005)

Interior of the main floor hallway in the building (2005)