Former School in KY Built by Works Progress Administration
Victory Heights Elementary School, Winchester Kentucky
The Victory Heights Elementary School was constructed in 1939 with funding from the Public Works Administration. The construction of Victory Heights was one in a series of large projects undertaken by the City of Winchester and Clark County School Systems. The objective was to upgrade older city school buildings and consolidate the inefficient one and two-room, graded facilities serving the Clark County rural districts. Beginning in the fall of 1939, Victory Heights became the first consolidated school in Clark County to bus its students to school.
Works Progress Administration projects within the county, ranging from a very small undertaking (painting the schools in 1935 at a cost of $1,500) to the very large (reconstruction of the streets in the City of Winchester in 1939 at a cost $31,377). Other construction projects undertaken include the 1939 remodeling and addition to the county courthouse ($19,830), and a garage and warehouse constructed for the Clark County Fiscal Court ($12,545) in 1938. In the late 1930s, several other educational construction projects were funded by the PWA and undertaken within Clark County. The 1890s Hickman Street School received additions ($2,692) and the Winchester High School built a gymnasium and auditorium ($20,884). In 1935 several smaller WPA projects were undertaken to improve educational properties in Clark County including an $890 landscaping project around Burns High School and improvements to the grounds around the Oliver Colored School ($430). One other Clark County consolidated school was constructed with New Deal funding. In 1938, a total of $23,715 in WPA funds was awarded to help construct a new consolidated school in Trapp.
The same year the PWA offered Clark County $190,000 for the construction of three other consolidated schools, Victory Heights, Providence, and Pilot View. On November 1st, 1938, the Clark County Board of Education voted to reduce the number to one school, and the school system received $22,005 in WPA funds for the construction of Victory Heights. The original plans were completed and dated November 16th, 1938 and recorded as Project No. PWA Docket KY 1390-F. The plans were registered in Atlanta at the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works on January 3rd, 1939 and approved one month later on February 3rd, 1939.
The original plan for the building called for a design with a two-story main structure. However, the local school board had four concerns that resulted in the removal of the second story from the original plans. First, Victory Heights was the second of Clark County's consolidated schools to be constructed. Second, there were approximately 27 one-room and two-room schools scattered throughout the county. Third, there was little money for school buses. Finally, the school board was unsure if the Victory Heights district contained enough students to fill the school. The local county school superintendent was considered by some to be very parsimonious. Therefore, the Clark County Board of Education persuaded the PWA that a one-story facility was more appropriate and the original plans were changed at the last minute.
The stock market crash of October 29th, 1929, and the sharp and lingering financial disaster that followed, created nationwide unemployment and subsequent social problems on a scale previously unknown in American history. Although the United States had previously experienced panics or depressions, the magnitude of this particular disaster overwhelmed the ability of most state and local governments to provide needed assistance. This chaos ushered in the era known as the Great Depression.
The Hoover administration's first attempt to manage the crisis with federal intervention was the signing of the Emergency Relief and Construction Act on July 21st, 1932. This act provided $300,000,000 to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) to make loans available to states and local governments. Kentucky Governor Ruby Laffoon requested $15 million, but Kentucky received only $1.1 million in assistance. Unfortunately, Hoover's efforts did little to alleviate the crisis. The election of Franklin Roosevelt, who ran on the promise of "a new deal for the American people", established the grand scheme for federal intervention to end the economic chaos.
The term "New Deal" endured and came to represent all of the new economic programs brought about during the first part of Roosevelt's administration. The most significant programs were inaugurated in the middle of 1933 during the famous "100 days" by legislation that established many of Roosevelt's programs including: the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA); the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC); the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA); and the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA).
The NIRA was an important act because it guaranteed workers the right to collective bargaining. Under the NIRA the Administration of Public Works (PWA) was established on June 16th, 1933, with Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes as director. The first meeting of the PWA board in June of 1933 established the priorities of the administration. Although the PWA was a relief program, the primary workforce would not consist of citizens on relief. "Money expended in doles or direct relief contributes little to the stimulus of trade, whereas, money spent in public works stimulates business not only in the community itself but throughout the material and transportation industries. Public works built at the present low wage and price levels … will carry a low cost. It is good business as well as good tactics to use this opportunity to add substantially to the public wealth". Ickes desire to create lasting and impressive monuments specified the employment of skilled craftsmen or specialized construction workers.
In the first quarter of the 20th Century, educators became increasingly concerned over the state of the learning environment. The Kentucky Education Commission and the Efficiency Commission of Kentucky sponsored several studies concerning the lack of proper educational facilities. They reported that at least half of all Kentucky one-room schools were dilapidated and recommended school consolidation as a way to improve the situation by pooling the limited construction resources. The existing unimproved road system forced rural communities to educate their children in inefficient and isolated conditions, and public money to improve these facilities was in short supply.
One of the first major programs that the PWA funded were appropriations for the expansion of the road system in America. Approximately one-eighth of the entire sum for the first public works program was a grant for road improvement. This was the first part of the overall program's purpose for improving the standard of living for rural America.
Once the road system was improved the next, and equally important improvement would be in the area of education. The link between roads and a new more desirable type of rural education was readily apparent. Requests to consolidate schools from districts increased where new roads were built. School consolidation finally became a reality with funding from the New Deal programs. In this aspect, Secretary Ickes again expressed his vision. "PWA has funds to spend for school buildings, and for certain educational equipment, it was our keen desire to spread the benefits of PWA to education as far as we possibly could". It was their aim to place in every part of the nation school structures that would stand long after the program was ended as monuments to its social vision".
In keeping with this goal, the architecture of educational structures in Kentucky is varied and depended upon several factors including, the location of the structure, locally available resources and materials, and the personal preferences of the architect. In his historic context, New Deal Era Construction in Western Kentucky, 1933-1943, Brent sums up the variation of styles in educational buildings. "The architecture is often functional or institutional with little ornamentation yet often the materials used in the construction were deliberately chosen and were an integral part of the project … there was really no "New Deal style". Architects simply adapted the styles of the day to the building and materials they had to work with". The design of many of the school buildings were influenced by the most popular architectural styles of the period including, Art Deco and Streamline Modern. In some cases hybrids of the two were constructed earning the architectural nickname "WPA Modern".
In Kentucky the Public Works Administration spent approximately 49 million dollars and funded over 600 construction projects. Two hundred and seventy-six new schools were constructed, along with 6 hospitals, 24 sewage treatment plants, over 80 waterworks, bridges, post offices, a fire station and an electric generating plant. In Kentucky's two largest cities, PWA funded the clearance of slums and the construction of low cost, public housing.
Seven New Deal agencies constructed some type of educational facility including: The Civilian Conservation Corps, The Tennessee Valley Authority, The Civil Works Administration, The Federal Emergency Relief Administration, Works Progress Administration, National Youth Administration, and Public Works Administration. Educational facilities were the most numerous of any type constructed or funded by the New Deal. Thus, projects associated with this type may be found in every county in the state. Examples of educational structures associated with the New Deal and documented in western Kentucky include: schools (vocational/educational), cafeterias, auditoriums, gymnasiums, and shop or utility facilities.
Building Description
The Victory Heights Elementary School, occupies an 11-acre parcel in the west end of Winchester, Clark County, Kentucky. The school sits on a corner lot on the west side of Maryland Avenue, facing south toward Forest Avenue. Unoccupied since the mid-1990s, the structure has experienced some deterioration due to lack of maintenance but is in sound condition. The property includes the school, and 3 other buildings, a 1978 modular construction library and 2 concrete block storage buildings.
Much of the acreage behind the school is covered in tall grass, and a paved parking lot is adjacent to the east side of the building. This area does not contain the usual associated features such as a playground or baseball fields, and according to a former principal, these items were never developed at Victory Heights. The school building is owned by the Clark County Association for Handicapped Citizens who intends to rehabilitate the structure for use as an early childhood development center.
The residential Waveland Heights neighborhood located south and in front of the school was laid out in July 1924. Fairfield Heights, located further south, across Lexington Avenue was established, just before WW II. Many of the homes in the neighborhoods surrounding the school date from the 1940s and 1950s. The yard area in front of the school has retained several large, older trees and the flagpole. Victory Heights was the second consolidated school built in Clark County. The new building replaced the original Victory School, a small two-room structure located south of Lexington Avenue on Victory Avenue. Since many of the new residential subdivisions surrounding the school utilized the word "Heights" the name Victory Heights was a natural combination of the old school name with the new location.
Victory Heights was built in 1939 with funding from the Public Works Administration, a New Deal-era federal grant program. PWA funding originally would have supported construction of a two-story facility. However, plans were altered, and a one-story brick school with a one-and-one-half-story gymnasium was built instead. Later additions including the second floor, a cafeteria, and a classroom wing were incorporated into the 1939 structure. Because these phases of construction can be confusing the building will be described in a chronological manner.
In 1939 Victory Heights Elementary School was constructed with a one-story, masonry main block with a one-and-one-half-story gymnasium wing to the rear. Designed by Architect John F. Wilson and funded through the Public Works Administration, the building held grades 1-8 in six classrooms plus the principal's office and two lavatories. Laid in a Common bond brick pattern (five rows of stretchers and one of headers), the five-bay main block rested on a full, poured concrete basement and had stone and concrete details including cut stone coping along the cornice and cut stone windowsills. The sides of the main block and gymnasium were detailed with shallow pilasters with stone caps. The original windows were 8/8, double hung, wooden sashes with stone sills on the main facade and some 10 light, steel windows with concrete sills, on secondary facades.
The central entrance bay projects from the main facade and is accented by graduating stepped vertical brick courses. The main entrance is recessed within the central bay and is sheltered by a half-round flat-roofed aluminum entrance canopy, decorated with a center band of fluted metalwork. Supported at each end by a pair of chains anchored to the facade, similar canopies originally sheltered the east and west entrances to the main block. The main entrance steps are flanked by poured, concrete, one-quarter round handrails that are located just below a pair of narrow sidelights.
The gymnasium is also brick masonry construction laid in an American bond (five rows of stretcher to one row of stretcher/header) pattern. The shallow roof supported by reinforced, steel arches and the original 12/12, steel, casement windows are intact. The raised, stage area detailed in the original 1939 plans is extant. Ornamental wood hoods supported by oversized brackets originally sheltered the two rear (north) entrances of the gym. One is extant on the east end entrance.
In 1949 a second story with an identical room plan was added to the main block, thereby increasing the classrooms to fourteen. In order for the addition to be totally compatible with the original construction, the same architect designed the additions, and similar construction materials were used throughout. The design and appearance of the second floor and cafeteria wings are completely compatible with the original construction. The architect specified that certain features of the original building would be removed and relocated, such as the cut stone coping along the cornice, the metal gutters, roof vents, and interior handrails. The 1949 additions are nearly identical to the 1939 plans and specifications approved by the PWA, even to the door and window schedules.
In 1949, during the construction of the second story, a second tier of smaller pilasters were added to the outside set of these supporting elements on the main block only. Oddly on the main block, there are two sets of pilasters on the east elevation and only one set on the west end. The west elevation has metal wall washers or tie rods to stabilize the brick. The side entrances to the building, presently sheltered by modern metal canopies are flanked by these elements.
The interior of the second-floor addition still contains some original elements such as wood classroom doors with upper glass panel, integrated coat closets with folding doors, wood flooring in classrooms and blackboards. The bathroom units have painted concrete, interior walls, and steel casement windows.
A one-story, cafeteria with a full basement was also connected to the rear (north side) of the gymnasium during the 1949 construction. It was built with concrete blocks and brick masonry veneer. To protect the students from the elements, an enclosed, brick walkway was incorporated into the west rear gymnasium entrance. The cafeteria has changed little since construction with the interior divided into three spaces, two smaller cells on the south end for a coat room and kitchen, and the larger area for the eating space. The windows are the original ten-light steel casements with concrete sills. The interior coverings are utilitarian with painted concrete walls and linoleum floors. The basement contains three large rooms originally utilized for storage.
In 1958, a one-story, classroom wing designed by Brock and Johnson, Architects was attached to the west elevation of the breezeway. Constructed to house the primary grades, the addition is concrete block construction with brick veneer. This section features enlarged bay windows, with metal louvers, and concrete sills and foundation. This addition was constructed on a concrete slab and does not have a basement.
The last phase of construction occurred in 1978 with the construction of a separate, one-story, library east of the gym. This structure is modular construction with metal sliding windows, and brick panels on the exterior walls.
Two, small, one-story, concrete block structures that were used for maintenance and storage are located east of the cafeteria wing.
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