Former Elementary School Building in FL now Fighting Demolition

Bonita Springs School, Bonita Springs Florida

Date added: September 19, 2024

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Florida
School

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Located in southernmost Lee County on the banks of the Imperial River, the rural village of Bonita Springs grew into a thriving small town during the Florida Land Boom of the 1920s. Originally known as Survey, the community was the site of several substantial citrus groves when much of the land was purchased by a group of investors led by J. Henry Ragsdale in 1912. Ragsdale renamed the village Bonita Springs in honor of his daughter's name and because of the location there of a fresh water spring. The event that sparked intensive settlement of the community was the construction of the Fort Myers Southern Railroad through the community in 1923. Bonita Springs became popular as a health resort after the renovation of the Shangri-La Spa Hotel (formerly the Bonita Villa Hotel) in 1924. Another popular boom-time resort was Imperial Court, a hotel complex that included a number of cabins along the banks of the Imperial River. In addition to the railway, the development of Bonita Springs was aided by its location on the Tamiami Trail Highway between Fort Myers and Naples, a roadway which was completed in the late 1920s. By the end of the Florida Land Boom in the mid-1920s, the Town of Bonita Springs had a population of 315.

Several wood frame school buildings had been constructed in Bonita Springs before World War I, but by the mid-1910s the school-age population of the community warranted the erection of a larger, more permanent schoolhouse. In 1913 local resident J.R. Walker deeded the property where the present school is located to the Lee County Board of Public Instruction. In an election held in the existing wood frame schoolhouse in May 1917, local residents voted in favor of assessing a tax to underwrite an $8,000 bond issue, but construction of the new school was delayed to due the United States' entrance into World War I.

Following the war, interest in erecting the new school at Bonita Springs was revived. In December 1919 the board accepted plans for the building, which were drawn by a Tampa architect named Conrad. Bids for the building's construction were sought, but those received were considered too high and once again construction was delayed. In 1920 the board asked Conrad to revise the plans to bring them in line with the money available for construction. Finally, in April of 1921 local contractor R.L. Welch submitted an acceptable bid of $9,355 and work on the new school commenced. The building was completed in time for the opening of the 1921-1922 school term in September.

During the Florida Land Boom years of the mid-1920s, the small three-room school house became over-crowded due to an increase in the population of Bonita Springs. Local residents again voted in favor of a bond, issue to erect an additional school building on the property. The bonds were part of a massive $983,000 issue let in May 1926. The Fort Myers district was to receive the bulk of the funds for three new schools and an apartment building to house teachers. Other areas that were targeted for funding were Estero, Alva, and Olga. All of the new school buildings were to be designed in the Spanish style and feature large, well-lit classrooms, auditoriums, and the most up-to-date educational equipment. The School Board also required that only local construction firms be employed in the construction of the schools.

Shortly after the bond issue was let, the board authorized architect N. Gaillard Walker to draw plans for the school. In April 1927 local builder L.C. Luppens' bid of $22,012, which included the utilization of the relatively new fireproof building material of hollow concrete tile for the load-bearing walls, was accepted by the board. The two-story building was completed the following August. Sometime between the time the building was finished and the early 1940s, the two school buildings were joined by a one-story brick connector.

By the time the new school building was completed, the county was beginning to feel the effects of the collapse of the land boom. The onslaught of the Great Depression two years later took a heavy toll on its rural agricultural communities, including Bonita Springs. The Depression caused prices for locally produced crops to plunge and many people were forced to seek work or relief in Fort Myers or other cities. By 1931 the original Bonita Springs school had fallen into disrepair. With little money in its operating budget, the school board was forced to close off that part of the school. It remained closed until after World War II.

Like most communities in Florida, Bonita Springs experienced another growth spurt in the years immediately following the war. Once again the existing school facilities were overtaxed. The problem of overcrowding in the Bonita Springs School was alleviated by the removal of grades eight through twelve.

Eventually, the school became solely an elementary school serving grades Kindergarten through five. The post-war growth was accompanied by further development of the school's campus. In 1954 a cafeteria building was constructed on the southeast corner of the property. Two classroom buildings were constructed northeast of the original building in 1963 and 1971. The northern half of the school lot was developed for playgrounds and a open-air physical education pavilion was erected there in 1979. At about the same time a number of portable classrooms and temporary buildings were added to the property. The most recent addition was a media center, which was built in 1992.

DEMOLITION? What's next for historic Bonita Springs Elementary School

Building Description

The Bonita Springs School at 10701 Dean Street in the town of Bonita Springs, Lee County, Florida, is comprised of two school buildings constructed in 1921 and 1927. The 1921 building is a masonry vernacular structure, while the 1927 unit features elements of the Mediterranean Revival style. In the early 1940s, the two buildings were united by a short brick connector joining the main halls of the two school buildings.

Bonita Springs is an unincorporated community of about 10,000 residents in southern Lee County, near the northern border of Collier County. The Bonita Springs School complex is bounded by Hampton Street on the north, Horne Avenue on the east, Dean Street on the south, and Pullen Avenue on the west. Low density residential areas with houses dating from between 1930 and 1960 adjoin the property on the north, east, and west. An area of undeveloped land acts as a buffer between the school property and busy Bonita Springs Road located two blocks to the south. The historic Bonita Springs School is located in the southwestern corner of the property. It is surrounded on the north and east by permanent and temporary school buildings added to the property during the interval between 1957 and the present. The northern half of the property is reserved for playgrounds.

Because of their close proximity to one another and the addition of the connector in the 1940s that united the two buildings, the 1921 and 1927 structures now have the general appearance of a single building that has been enlarged at a later period. Each "wing" reflects the stylistic preferences of the period in which it was constructed. The one-story 1921 school has a T-shaped plan, and its west elevation abuts the rear (east) elevation of the 1927 building. The 1921 building consists of a hipped-roof main block, whose original main facade faced south. At the rear (north) of the building is an east-west oriented cross-hip extension. The walls are constructed of brick laid in common bond with a header course every five rows. The building originally contained three classrooms and was accessed by two doorways located on either side of the cross-hip extension which was the main facade of the building.

The 1927 building, found immediately west of its 1921 neighbor, has both a one-story and a two-story section. The western half of the building has a flat roof surrounded by a parapet that terminates in a false gable on the western, or main facade end. The rear (east) section of the building is two stories in height and is covered by a side-facing gable roof. It is constructed of terra-cotta tile faced with brick veneer. The two buildings are attached by a narrow flat-roofed connector that was constructed in the early 1940s. A one-story flat roof addition extends south from the connector between the two main units of the building.

The west elevation of the 1927 building now serves as the main entrance to both school buildings. A double-door entrance is located at the top of a one-bay, enclosed, brick-walled porch accessed by concrete steps flanked by concrete balustrade walls. The one-story entrance structure has a flat roof surrounded by a plain parapet and is much lower in height than the main wall of the building behind it. The porch receives natural light from the metal awning windows located in its north and south sides. The enclosed porch is flanked by groups of three arched windows united by a label molding.

The south elevation is visually divided into three parts. The westernmost part of the elevation consists the one-story, flat-roofed section of the 1927 building. It contains a set of five arched window openings united by a continuous brick drip molding. The two-story portion of the building rises to the east of the flat roof unit. It has a front-facing, parapetted gable roof with barrel tile cresting and a corbeled brick cornice. A brick string course divides the cornice and the second-story windows. An arched wing wall provides a visual transition between the one-story and two-story sections of the buildings. The two-story wing has three rectangular window bays on each story. The center bays on both stories are filled with A/C units and the outer bays have metal awning windows. The second and first-story windows are separated by a band of decorative diaper pattern brick. A flat and shed roof extension on the east wall of the two-story unit contains the interior stairwell. It features a parapet with masonry coping and a blind arch window in the second story of the east side.

The middle bay of the school consists of a one-story flat roof addition that extends to the south of the main structures and a flat roof connector that joins the two buildings. A pair of rectangular windows with brick sills pierces the south elevation of the flat roof addition. The connector has a corbeled brick cornice and two brick pilasters with corbeled brick capitals.

The facade of the 1921 portion of the school has a stepped parapet with metal coping and a corbeled brick cornice. A recessed panel located in the center of the parapet contains the name of the school in low relief. A grouping of five rectangular windows is centered on the facade. Smaller rectangular windows flank the grouping at the corners.

The north elevation of the 1927 building is nearly identical to the south elevation. The corridor connector is recessed between the two main blocks of the buildings and contains a single-door entrance. The 1921 portion of the building contains two groups of five rectangular windows.

The east elevation of the building features a hip roof extension and a flat roof entrance bay. The entrance bay has a corbeled brick cornice and a pair of modern replacement doors. A series of single rectangular windows pierce the side of the building at regular intervals.

The most visible of the alterations made to the historic building are the replacement of all the original windows and doors and the flat roof addition located at the junction of the 1927 building and the connector linking the 1921 and 1927 structures. The original double-hung sash windows have all been removed and replaced with aluminum awning windows. Some of the window openings have been partially filled with plywood, and some of the windows have been filled with air conditioning units, the original openings, however, remain intact.

Some the major interior spaces of the two buildings remain intact. The main entrance to the 1927 building leads to a hall that extends the length of both buildings. The six classrooms that have not been subdivided for other uses are similar in size and layout. They contain their original built-in blackboards and pine moldings. The oak floors remain in good condition, but are presently covered with carpeting. The stairwell to the second floor is constructed of concrete and has its original metal railings. It leads to a small landing with exposed brick walls and a blind arch window.

Two of the classrooms on the ground floor of the 1927 building have been subdivided with wood stud walls to create a teachers' lounge, bathrooms, clinic, school store, and preparation room. Several of the original classroom doors have also been replaced and modern drop ceilings have been added to provide space for electrical and ventilation conduits and lighting fixtures.