This Sioux City IA School building is known as The Castle on the Hill
Sioux City Central High School, Sioux City Iowa
Known as "The Castle", the Sioux City Central High School, the city's oldest community high school, was built in 1893 and served the community as an educational institution until 1972. Still located at the city center, this building stands as a monumental example of the kind of civic pride which accompanied the late nineteenth population boom which many towns such as Sioux City experienced. Covering an entire city block, "The Castle" was designed by the architect F. S. Allen of Joliet, Illinois, and the construction contract was awarded to contractor, Eric Lund of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Building Description
The Sioux City Central High School Building was constructed in 1892 of rough-hewn, brownish-pink Lake Superior sandstone and is of strong and heavy Romanesque-Gothic design. A centrally-located, castellated bell tower marks the main entrance facing the Missouri River and is flanked by two stepped-gable roof and facade projections. The symmetry of the whole, including identical window placement, places the round-arched Romanesque and the castellated medieval character of the whole building in a classically ordered context.
The interior of the structure contains over 145,000 square feet: a large auditorium, a stage, a gymnasium, locker rooms, large study halls, laboratories, a library and administrative offices.
The north wing was added in 1911-12. Floors in this wing are reinforced clay tile and concrete with a terrazzo finished surface. The stairs here are steel with terrazzo trends and open steel rails.
By 1930, stairwells in the original part were encased on three sides with masonry partitions and new walls installed of reinforced concrete and terrazzo finish.
New wooden flooring has been added in the classrooms on all four floors and tile board ceilings in approximately 30 percent of the rooms.
Also in 1930, the hip roof was removed and the walls between turrets and tower were extended to accommodate a fourth-floor addition.
(1972)
