Old school in Louisiana

First Street School, DeRidder Louisiana

Date added: February 02, 2023 Categories: Louisiana School

Although it has never undergone an official name change, the school has been known by three titles over the years. Beauregard Parish School Board minutes refer to it as the DeRidder Grammar School for the first year of its existence. However, the minutes also show that it was called First Street School throughout the 1940s. Later it became known as DeRidder Elementary School.

The land upon which the school stands has been used for educational purposes since 1906. In that year the Ludington, Wells & Van Schaick Company (a lumber concern) donated the site to Calcasieu Parish, of which DeRidder was at that time a part. The current building is the third school to be constructed on the site and was built after a 1938 fire destroyed its predecessor. The school population grew to such an extent that it was necessary to utilize three Civilian Conservation Corps buildings as additional classrooms until the new auditorium and classroom wing was finished in 1948. The building served as an elementary school until 1980. Since that time its second floor and the large auditorium have been used for storage. The first floor houses the parish teacher's credit union, an adult education center, a professional education library, facilities for special education, the school nursing program, a computer repair center, and the GED program. Current plans call for the school board to move into the building. An organization known as "Friends of DeRidder Elementary" is working to restore the building.

Building Description

DeRidder's First Street School is a two-story brick structure erected in 1940 and expanded in 1948 in keeping with its original restrained Modernistic styling. The school's campus lies only half a block from the Beauregard Parish Courthouse, and the DeRidder central business district is only a short distance further east. Although the facade stands quite close to a busy, tree-lined street, the rear elevation faces a large playground. The entire campus occupies approximately four acres. The school has experienced very little alteration since the 1948 expansion.

The original (1940) building consists of a central block with a forward-projecting wing on each side, set at an angle. The central block features a recessed entrance; the wings contain classrooms. The school's small original auditorium survives on the central block's second level. The previously mentioned 1948 wing is set to the rear of the central block. It contains a two-story auditorium flanked by one-story hallways and classrooms.

The school's Modernistic features are found primarily in the geometry expressed on the central block and at the end of each original wing. A series of superimposed masses and pilasters gives the facade of the multi-bay central block a visual energy. The pilasters separate the facade's three centermost bays, further reinforce the main block's stepped nature, and also emphasize its verticality. The end of each wing exhibits three Modernistic features. The first is a recessed secondary building entrance that adjoins a curved alcove containing a large curved window filled with glass blocks. The second is a set of two narrow, vertical, glass block windows. Located above the recessed entrance, these also suggest verticality while strongly reinforcing the geometric character of the building. The third is a pair of low curved walls (similar to balustrades) which flank the steps leading to the side entrance. Another interesting geometric feature on the exterior is the fact that the building's brick walls are laid in a manner to form horizontal bands. This effect is achieved through the use of a slightly darker shade of brick laid with its header turned outward within every sixth brick course.

On the interior, hallway pilasters mimic the uneven surface of the central block's facade. In the 1948 auditorium angled walls, severely rectangular half walls separating seating areas from walkways, and the sharply projecting rectangular projection room also reflect the geometrical emphasis of the Modernistic style. Interestingly, the balcony's pipe-like railings suggest the influence of the International style. Although not a Modernistic motif, concrete hallway floors scored to resemble large stone blocks are another interesting feature. Otherwise, the interiors of the 1940 building and the classroom sections of the 1948 addition are typical of period schools. Classrooms are characterized by large windows providing ample light and doors with multi-light transoms. Most classrooms retain their original slate blackboards.

Alterations to the First Street School include the addition of ceiling tiles in the classrooms and hallways, the loss of some baseboards and chair rails, and the construction (during the 1950s) of a small incinerator attached to the wall of one 1948 classroom. The latter's ruin remains in place. The 1960s saw alterations to the auditorium's orchestra pit. Finally, the building's present roof has failed in places, causing water damage in many of the second-floor rooms. (Plans are underway to replace the roof.) None of the above alterations has impacted the building's restrained Modernistic styling, with the result that the facade and important curved alcoves on the side wings remain entirely intact.