Former School Building in MA Converted into Veterans Housing

Chapin School, Chicopee Massachusetts

Date added: November 21, 2024

South and east elevations of 1905 section and east elevation of 1898 section (2013)

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The Chapin School building in Chicopee, MA, was originally constructed in 1898 as one of fifteen graded primary school facilities built in the city between 1890 and 1925 to replace the former ungraded, single-room schoolhouses. The Chapin School was built largely in response to the upsurge in population in the Willimansett neighborhood of Chicopee following the construction of the nearby Willimansett-Holyoke Bridge in 1891. As the community continued to expand, the building was enlarged in two successive building campaigns, first in 1905, with the addition of four classrooms at its south elevation, and then in 1911 with the addition of six classrooms at its north elevation. Upon its closing as a primary school in 1982, Chapin was considered the oldest operating "neighborhood" school in Chicopee. The Chapin School was designed by the locally and regionally prominent firm of George P. B. Alderman & Co.

Designed by the Holyoke architectural firm of George P. B. Alderman & Co. in the Classical Revival style, the red-brick and cast-stone Chapin School is a well-preserved example of institutional architecture, located in the Willimansett neighborhood of the city of Chicopee.

From its beginning in 1898 until its closing in 1982, it was a graded primary school. At its closing, it was the oldest operating neighborhood school in Chicopee. The school's two expansions are representative of the city's growing population, associated with the construction of the Willimansett-Holyoke Bridge in 1891, and the community's subsequent need for additional schools to accommodate the growing number of children.

Construction of the Willimansett-Holyoke Bridge in 1891 created a direct link between downtown Holyoke and Chicopee's Willimansett neighborhood. The following decades bore witness to a population upsurge in Willimansett, as Holyoke's population began to relocate from the crowded urban core to the suburban hamlet across the Connecticut River. A direct result of the population boom was an increase in school construction to relieve overcrowded conditions throughout Chicopee, including construction of the Chapin School in 1898, and its two subsequent expansions in 1905 and 1911.

City of Chicopee

The city of Chicopee is named after the Chicopee River, whose mouth empties into the Connecticut River. The word "Chicopee" derives from the Nipmuc "chekee" (violent) and "pe" (waters), likely a reference to local rapids. In 1636, William Pynchon made the first purchase of land in the area from the Agawam Native American tribe on the east side of the Connecticut River and moved there from Roxbury (now part of Boston), where he settled in an area known today as Chicopee Center (originally Cabotville). Pynchon expanded his holdings in 1641 by procuring the land between the Chicopee River and the Willimansett Brook, which later developed into Willimansett village.

The community's steady population growth was marked by the founding of a cooperative school in 1713, followed by the incorporation of Chicopee as an independent parish in 1750. Industry fueled the population increase, and in 1789 an ironworks was constructed at Chicopee Falls. A paper mill was built on the north side of the river in 1806, though cotton would soon prove an invaluable commodity to Chicopee's growth and independence.

Local farm girls comprised the first assemblage of laborers at the mills and associated tenement buildings and boardinghouses, attracted by the opportunity to earn cash wages independently. They were soon followed by successive waves of immigrant settlers, who were drawn by the area's employment opportunities. Agents working on behalf of the Chicopee Manufacturing and Springfield Canal Companies began recruiting Irish immigrants from New York, Boston, and Canada to work as masons, carpenters, and laborers. The Irish Famine of 1848 drove thousands of immigrants out of their native land, further increasing Chicopee's Irish community. Soon thereafter, French Canadians began to arrive to supplement the Irish work force, followed by Polish immigrants. As early as 1885, these three ethnic groups comprised 35 percent of Chicopee's residents. At the turn of the 20^th Century, Portuguese and Greek workers began to seek employment in Chicopee, founding churches, schools, and social and community organizations.

Originally part of Springfield, Chicopee became its own municipality in 1848. Throughout the 19^th century, Chicopee's population soared and its farms and factories prospered, turning out textiles, tobacco, agricultural tools, swords, small arms, and cannon. By 1890, Chicopee's population had grown to 14,050, making the town large enough to qualify for a city charter. The charter was granted by the Commonwealth, and Chicopee adopted for its motto "Industriae Variae" ("Varied Industries"). Commercial activity expanded at Willimansett, Chicopee Center, and Chicopee Falls, with Italianate, Renaissance Revival, and Georgian Revival commercial blocks lining neighborhood streets. The highest concentration of commercial development was in Chicopee Center, with the construction of buildings such as the Temple Block (1876-1877), Olmsted and Tuttle Company Office (1899), and Cabot Hotel (1907).

Willimansett

The neighborhood of Willimansett, in the northwest corner of the city of Chicopee, is roughly bordered by the Connecticut River to the west, Pendleton Avenue to the north, Interstate 391 to the east, and McKinstry Avenue to the south.

The rich floodplains along the Connecticut River provided fertile soil for Willimansett's early farmers. As late as 1879, Louis Everts described Willimansett as "a small hamlet at the northerly end of Chicopee Street, on the east side of the Connecticut and opposite Holyoke. Its interests are principally agricultural." Chicopee Street (State Route 116), the neighborhood's main transportation artery, had experienced scattered agricultural settlement from the town's earliest period (when Chicopee was still a part of Springfield) through the mid 19^th Century.

There were few areas of concentrated settlement in Willimansett until the building of a bridge across the Connecticut River, linking Willimansett with Holyoke's industrial district in 1891.

Until that time, travel between the two communities was primarily by ferry, or via a pedestrian walkway constructed along the Connecticut River Railroad Bridge. The need for a vehicular bridge was recognized as early as 1886, when an association to lobby for the construction of a bridge was formed in Chicopee. Several years of debate over the proposed site ensued, with Holyoke and Chicopee Center residents opposing the selection of a Willimansett site. However, the Willimansett lobby prevailed, and in 1891 the new bridge was completed and opened. Deemed the Willimansett-Holyoke Bridge, the Pennsylvania truss span design created a clear-cut link between the Willimansett area and Holyoke to the north, as well as an uninterrupted connection to Springfield to the south.

Construction of the new bridge, along with the development of streetcar lines connecting the two cities in 1895, made the suburban neighborhood of Willimansett more accessible to workers employed in Holyoke's factories, and led to a marked population boom in the area. The development of a new commercial and residential center followed closely on the heels of the bridge's opening. Over the next three decades, Willimansett changed from a sparsely settled agricultural area to a low- to medium-density urban neighborhood occupied by large apartment blocks and commercial buildings scattered along the northern end of the Chicopee Street corridor, interspersed with smaller, wooden, two-family and three-decker houses. The establishment of churches, schools, and social clubs soon followed.

Education in Chicopee

Chicopee's early school system was separated into geographical districts. Each district had its own ungraded school. The first mention of a school in Chicopee was in 1713, when the sum of ten shillings was paid by the town to Harriet Cooley for keeping school in her house. As noted in province and town laws: "All children from five to ten years of age are to be sent to school, and if not, their parents shall be taxed for all such children to the School Master." In 1714, a grant of twelve pounds was made by the town for school purposes, and by 1721, a small school building was located on Chicopee Street, north of the Chicopee River in Willimansett, on property owned by David Chapin. Known as the Chicopee Street Schoolhouse, it was a simple, single-story, unpainted building with a large fireplace. As payment for their children's education, each family in town was requested to donate one load of wood to the schoolhouse each October.

The local school committee released its first report in March of 1849. The report listed 20 graded schools, indicating the Chicopee school system had fully converted to the graded system. Ten schools were in District No. 4 (Chicopee Village), and four in District No. 6 (Chicopee Falls). Eight male and 25 female teachers were employed by the town. The male teacher's average salary amounted to $37.35, while the female counterpart's amounted to less than half of that figure, $14.20. School was taught in both the winter and summer months, with enrollment totaling 1,495 students between the ages of four and sixteen. The report for the succeeding year noted new brick schoolhouses in District No. 1 (Willimansett), District No. 2 (Chicopee School), and District No. 3 (Chicopee Falls-the Falls maintained two districts). The exact locations of these school buildings are unknown. District No. 4 (Chicopee Village) had one high school, three intermediate, and six primary schools. District No. 5 (East Chicopee Falls) had one schoolhouse, situated on the Boston Road; District No. 6 (Chicopee Falls) had one high, one intermediate, and two primary schools, all held in only two brick buildings. District No. 7 maintained one "aged" schoolhouse, and District No. 8 "had but one scholar," who attended school in Granby. Due to the large and growing student population in Chicopee, the ungraded system was abolished entirely by the mid-19^th century, as mixed-grade classrooms were ineffective with so many students.

Chapin School

The Chapin School was built in 1898 at the junction of Meadow and Chicopee streets, also popularly known as the "Y." The school was named after Japhet and Henry Chapin, the first documented settlers having permanent residence within the boundaries of Chicopee, in 1675. Henry built a house (no longer extant) on present-day Ferry Street, and served as Representative to the General Court of Massachusetts in 1689, Japhet settled on Chicopee Street, and was best known for his participation in the Battle of Turer's Falls during King Philip's War in 1676.

Chapin was the fifth school building erected in the Willimansett area of Chicopee. The first school, the Chicopee Street Schoolhouse, was built in 1721 on property owned by David Chapin off present-day Chicopee Street. It was replaced by the Chicopee Primary School (later known as the Little Red Schoolhouse) in 1761. The third school, the Prospect Street School, was built in 1802. It remained in this capacity for 40 years, until the building was sold in 1842 to the Connecticut River Railroad to serve as a railroad station; the building is no longer extant and the date of demolition is unknown. The fourth, the Willimansett New School (School #1, known later in the Superintendent's Reports as the Willimansett School), was relocated to 1024 Chicopee Street in 1846 from an unknown location (1834, relocated 1846, extant). The building remained a school until 1979, when it was sold to a private developer who converted it into a restaurant. It currently serves as a childcare facility.

Construction of the Classical Revival-style, six-room Chapin School began in direct response to local overcrowding, specifically at the Willimansett School. The city appropriated $19,000 to the school committee for the purchase of the lot and construction of the building and furnishings. The building was completed in 1898, with provisions in the designs for later expansions.

The first classes, in January 1898, occupied three classrooms in the building. In its initial year, the school served 142 students in grades one, two, and five through nine, with an average class size of 35 pupils. Grades three and four remained at the Willimansett School until the remaining three classrooms were opened at the beginning of the following fall and winter terms. The school's first principal was Margaret H. Smith, and its initial group of teachers included Marion B. Follansbee of Holyoke, Alice G. Corbet of Willimansett, Mary H. Garvey of Springfield, and Effie H. Southwick of Chicopee Falls.

By the turn of the 20^th Century, the extant school buildings in Chicopee, including the Chapin School, were at or near capacity. To alleviate the overcrowding, some classrooms were set up to teach two classes with two teachers per room, or instruction was undertaken in the basements of the buildings. In some parts of the city, classrooms were opened in rented rooms in neighborhood buildings to accommodate the increasing student enrollment. One of the fastest growing neighborhoods in the city was in the Willimansett section, largely due to construction of the Willimansett-Holyoke Bridge in 1891. The Chapin School building was located less than one mile southwest of the bridge.

The 1905 addition to the Chapin School included six classrooms to its south elevation at a cost of $9,000. The addition was designed by the building's original architect, George P. B. Alderman. This addition was considered "imperative," as the overcrowding was so serious and the growth of this part of the city so rapid.

The expanded Chapin School provided instruction for 389 pupils in grades one through nine in 1910. The first- and second-grade classes had 58 and 44 students per classroom, respectively, and had two teachers per room. Due to overcrowding, these two grades were put on half sessions to accommodate all children who were enrolled. On this revised schedule, half of the children attended school in the morning, and the other half attended in the afternoon. However, the limited amount of time allocated to each session eliminated the students' "self-education," or time spent reading and writing without the teacher's assistance. According to Chicopee's superintendent, the time spent self-educating was a necessary and crucial element of the child's academic development, and the "half-session plan was school work with education left out." As a result, the school returned to the prior arrangement of full sessions with two teachers per classroom. While still unsatisfactory, it was determined to be the better of the two options.

Enlarging the existing building, rather than building a second school, was considered the most economical solution to relieving the student congestion. School committee reports note, "A fourteen, or better, a sixteen-room building on this lot could be heated by one furnace, cared for by one janitor and managed by one principal." The school committee urgently requested an appropriation from the city to rent a temporary room for the 1910 school year, and to construct a six-room addition at the south elevation of the building over the summer months. The Superintendent of Schools noted in his yearly report, "The overcrowding in the [Chapin School] is so serious and the growth of this part of the city so rapid that an addition to the building is imperative and should be hastened so that the rooms will be ready for use when, the schools open in September." The Superintendent went on to champion the addition to the school by stating that it would be more economical for heating, maintaining, and management than smaller, scattered schools within the Willimansett neighborhood.

In 1911, construction of an addition to the Chapin School was underway, following the plans of George P. B. Alderman & Co. Connected via the central corridor at the north elevation of the original 1898 school building, the addition included three classrooms on each floor: classrooms on both the east and west sides of the corridor, and one on the northern end. Two new staircases, consistent in design with the original staircases, were also added. New central entrances were constructed to directly: access the central hallway from each side of the building. During the construction of the addition, the school's five coal-burning furnaces and cottage heaters for the hallways were replaced with a new coal-fired, central, steam-heating system. The addition was constructed at a cost of $34,526. Upon completion of the addition, the Chapin School was the largest school building in the city. In 1912, the school educated 505 pupils in grades one through nine.

The Great Depression severely affected schools, school maintenance, and construction in Chicopee. The decade-long economic collapse that began in 1929 shook American optimism, and altered the role of government in economic affairs. As of 1930, the School Committee's budget for repairs and new construction was reduced, from six percent for school property valued at over $2,000,000, to less than one percent of its total expenditure for maintenance and operations. The Federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) provided funds to paint the interior of the high school building in 1933; additional projects approved by the CWA included new concrete floors at the Chapin, Bowie, and Valentine Schools; plumbing and masonry repairs at the Alvord School (1894); and a new heating plant and grounds work at the Royal Street (ca.1913-1923), Spruce Street, Bowie, Valentine, and Chapin schools. Such repairs were considered essential to the welfare of the schools.

Student enrollment at the Chapin School increased from 389 students to 808 students between 1910 and 1925. The sixteen-room school building educated 933 students in its peak year of 1928. The number of pupils fell to 585 in 1929, and in 1930, the number of enrolled students was 622, and continued to drop to 520 in 1935, and 445 as of 1940. Enrollment then began to gradually increase, reaching 511 by 1950. This number remained steady until the early 1970s, when the student population at Chapin dropped to 366.

Between 1979 and 1989, Chicopee underwent a large decline in public school enrollment, requiring a sizable fiscal and educational adjustment by the school board. In 1980, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts passed a property tax limitation measure, deemed Proposition 2½, which limited tax increases within communities to 2½ percent per year. As a result of taxation limitations, a $2.9 million cut was made to the school budget by the city in 1981. The school committee then began a year-long study to determine the fate of several school buildings that were proving too expensive to maintain, due to their age and declining state. As a result, the Sweeney Memorial School (1966, closed 1981 and demolished, date unknown), the Fairview Elementary School (1964), and the Kirby Junior High School (1929, converted to apartments 1989) closed, and students were consolidated into other school buildings. The Chapin School remained open and in operation as an alternative school until 2004. As a result of statewide budget cuts, and the building's lack of a cafeteria and gymnasium, Chapin closed in 1982, and students were transferred to the Kirby School on McKinstry Avenue. At its closing as a primary school, the Chapin was considered the oldest operating "neighborhood" school in Chicopee. The building was utilized as the Chapin Alternative School for grades seven through twelve until 2004, when the alternative school relocated.

The Chapin School building sat vacant for eight years before it was acquired by Soldier On in 2012 for redevelopment as a veterans' housing complex.

George P.B. Alderman, Architect

George P. B. Alderman (1862-1929) was an architect with offices at 437 High Street in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He specialized in the construction of residential buildings early in his career, before progressing to religious, institutional, and commercial buildings largely in the Massachusetts cities of Holyoke, Northampton, Westfield, Ludlow, South Hadley, Springfield, and Chicopee. Initially trained as a carpenter, Alderman advanced to working as a draughtsman in the office of architect James A. Clough. Considered one of the leading designers during the period of Holyoke's major industrial prosperity, Clough is credited with many impressive buildings in that city, including the Russell-Osborne Building (1885), the Holyoke Public Library (1897), and the Holyoke Home for Aged People (1911). Alderman apprenticed under Clough for five years before moving to Chicago, where he found work in the offices of Cass Chapman. Chapman was most known for his work at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, which included additions to the ca. 1870 William F. King Residence and the College Chapel (1877). Alderman returned to Holyoke in 1885 and opened his own practice. He was later joined by his brother, Henry Holcomb Alderman, and together the two designed residences, churches, schools, and public buildings.

Alderman's overall approach to architecture was synonymous with that of his contemporaries. His early career (1885-1893) featured Italianate, Romanesque Revival, and Queen Anne-inspired designs, while his later works (1890s-1910) expanded to include Beaux Arts, Classical, and Colonial Revival styles. Examples of Alderman's work include the Clovis Robert Block (1881, NRHP 2002) in Holyoke. The Clovis Robert Block, a brick, mixed-use building executed in the Classical Revival and Queen Anne styles, was considered among the more exuberant designs on Main Street at the time of its construction, with a four-part, copper-clad center bay window ornamented with fish scale-pattern copper shingles.

Alderman received a large number of commissions for school buildings in Chicopee and Holyoke, where he was considered a local expert in school building design. In Chicopee, Alderman was responsible for additions made to the Fairview School (1923, extant with additions), George S. Taylor School (1910, razed 1970), Grape Street School (1861, addition in 1905 to become Valentine Kindergarten, extant), and the Spruce Street Primary School (built ca. 1890 and razed 1965). Alderman was also responsible for the Valentine School (1898) in Chicopee, executed in the Renaissance Revival style, and the William Whiting School (1910, Hampden Park) in Holyoke, designed in the Colonial Revival style. The Whiting School, built to serve kindergarten through eighth grade during the day and to function as an evening school, was described in the Holyoke Post Transcript as the first school in Holyoke to make design improvements for children's health. Such improvements included pivoting windows, air shafts built into the core of the building to improve ventilation, and bathrooms in the basement.

Building Description

The Chapin School is located in the Willimansett neighborhood of the city of Chicopee, MA, on an approximately 1.36-acre, flat, triangular lot. Situated at the intersection of Chicopee and Meadow streets, the largely asphalt-paved lot is enclosed by a chain-link fence and is sited approximately 1,400 feet west of the Connecticut River, and 0.8 miles southwest of the Willimansett-Holyoke Bridge. The 2½-story, red-brick school building was constructed in a series of three building campaigns in 1898, 1905, and 1911. The two red-brick additions, attached to the north and south elevations of the original 1898 structure, established three fully integrated building sections, creating an exaggerated cross-style plan. Executed in the Classical Revival style, the three-part building exterior features corner pilasters, pedimented entrance pavilions, evenly spaced windows with cast-stone sills and keystone lintels, and a denticulated wooden cornice.

The original (center) section of the building, constructed in 1898, measures eight bays wide, including a three-bay recessed section. In 1905, an addition measuring four bays wide and ten bays deep was added to the south elevation of the original 1898 building. A second addition, constructed in 1911, was added to the north elevation of the original building, measuring eight bays wide and eight bays deep. The entire building features a varied roofline, with hipped roofs on the 1898 and 1911 sections, and a flat roof on the 1905 section.

The Chapin School is currently being converted to veterans' housing. The present windows, which are late 20th-century replacements, will be retained.

Detailed Description

The Chapin School is located in a mixed-use neighborhood with early to mid-20th-century, two- and three-story, wood-frame residential and mixed-use buildings to the south and west. A large public park is located across Meadow Street to the east of the site. The north, east, and west portions of the site are paved in asphalt, and the southern end features a flat grassy area. The property is enclosed by a three-foot-high chain-link fence.

The Chapin School is a Classical Revival-style, steel-reinforced, red-brick building that rises 24 stories from a raised basement, and is trimmed with cast-stone detailing. Though the building was constructed in three separate phases, each section features similar massing and detailing. A continuous cast-stone watertable extends around the building. At the corners of each section, brick pilasters with cast-stone bases and decorative stone capitals rise from the watertable to a painted wooden cornice. The wide, denticulated cornice sits below projecting eaves at each elevation.

Windows throughout the building consist of late 20th-century aluminum replacement sash. At the basement level, windows contain 2/2 sash that are obscured on the exterior by plywood and are framed by flat, cast-stone sills and lintels. The majority of existing modern, 1/1, aluminum replacement sash on the first and second stories contain double-pane, insulated glass with exterior screens. A solid metal, fixed transom panel is located above the double-hung windows. The window openings on the first floor are also obscured on the exterior by plywood, and feature cast-stone sills and lintels. Those on the second floor are accentuated by flat cast-stone sills and brick jack-arch lintels with cast-stone keystones.

The 1898 original (center) section of the building measures eight bays wide, including a three-bay recessed pavilion at its north end. The primary entrances, located at the east and west elevations, are set beneath projecting brick, pedimented pavilions, and are accessed by granite stairs and landings. The pediments are each detailed with a slate-clad tympanum and a denticulated, wood raking cornice with overhanging eaves. Recessed secondary entrances are also located on the east and west elevations, and are accentuated by wide, cast-stone lintels. The 1898 building is topped by a hipped roof that features a pedimented cross gable at the cast and west elevations, decorated with a raking cornice. Two brick chimneys extend above the roofline.

The southernmost section of the building, added to the south elevation of the original 1898 building in 1905, measures four bays wide and ten bays deep. The depth of the 1905 section extends slightly beyond the adjoining 1898 section at its east and west elevations. The south elevation features a tripartite configuration defined by brick pilasters. The addition's flat roof is pierced by three brick chimneys and a hipped dormer located at its south elevation. The slate-clad dormer contains a pair of 2/2 aluminum replacement windows.

The 1911 T-plan addition (northernmost section) measures eight bays wide and eight bays deep, including a four-bay projecting section at the north end. The 1911 addition contains a pair of recessed secondary entrances at the fifth bays of the east and west elevations. The entryways, which feature wide cast-stone lintels, are each accessed by a granite stair and concrete paved landing. Blind window openings are located within the fourth through eighth bays of the east elevation's first and second floors. The openings contain the same red brick as the remainder of the building. The 1911 addition is topped by a hipped roof that features pedimented cross gables at the east and west elevations, decorated with a denticulated raking cornice. A slate-clad, hipped dormer pierces the north elevation. The dormer contains a pair of 2/2 aluminum replacement windows. Three brick chimneys extend above the roofline.

The interior plan of the building features one central corridor extending north to south, with classrooms and support spaces on either side, and stairways at the entrances of the 1898 and 1911 sections. The three-level interior is composed of a basement level, which contains ancillary functions such as a kitchen, art room, lavatories, boiler room, and storage spaces; a first floor with seven classrooms, three offices, and a meeting room; and a second floor, similar in layout to the first floor, with eight classrooms.

The basement hallway has an exposed concrete floor, painted brick walls, and a plaster ceiling. Exposed piping is hung from the ceiling along the length of the hallway. Modern metal doors provide access to rooms off the hallway. The rooms in the basement level have exposed concrete floors, brick walls, and plaster or drop-tile ceilings. The boiler room, a teacher's room, and several storage rooms are located within the 1911 section. The original 1898 section contains an art room, the girls' lavatory, and several storage rooms located directly off the center hallway. Two support rooms and the kitchen are located in the 1905 section. The kitchen includes a concrete-block dumbwaiter that extends up to the first floor. The support room at the east end of the section features faux wood paneling.

The hallways on the first and second floors have flat plaster walls with original wood baseboards, a wooden chair rail, and a wooden coat-hanging rail. The floors are covered in vinyl tiles, and the ceilings are finished with fiberboard tiles. Doors to classrooms and closets are situated along the hallway and in the stair halls. The door openings feature original wood trim, wood and glazed panel doors, and solid and glazed transoms. Small stairway vestibules are located off the interior landings from the central entrances. Three wooden steps with vinyl tread covers provide access to the hallway. A wide doorway opening with a ten-light transom is situated at the base of the steps. A pair of low handrails with carved wooden newel posts lines the steps within the hallway.

The four stair halls extend from the basement to the attic. Each stair hall is accessed via an interior vestibule, formed by the exterior doors and a wooden interior doorway opening with a multi-light glazed transom. The stair halls are lined with flat plaster walls, and feature original wood trim and baseboards extending along the walls. The ceilings are finished with fiberboard tiles. The stairs have wooden treads and risers with vinyl tread covers, and solid beadboard balusters with carved newel posts at each of the landings. A modern wooden handrail extends along the exterior wall at each run of stairs; floors at the landings feature vinyl tile. All four stair halls are separated from the central hallway by wood and glass partitions on the first and second floors. The partitions each contain a pair of four-pane doors flanked by four-pane sidelights. A four-section glazed transom, each section with three lights, tops the doors and sidelights.

The first floor contains seven classrooms and an administrative office space. The classrooms are generally square, measuring roughly 30 feet by 30 feet with vinyl-tile floors, original wood baseboards, painted flat plaster walls, original wood trim around the doors, and applied fiberboard tile ceilings. Many classrooms have slate chalkboards and one or two closets located at the partition walls along the hallway. Window trim is limited to simple wooden sills. The administrative offices are located on the east side of the 1898 section, and access is provided off the central hallway and stair hall. The floors are vinyl tile, walls are modern drywall, and the ceilings are modern, suspended ceiling tiles. The former principal's office and conference room have exposed brick on the south walls. All interior wood trim is modern stock. Storage rooms are located on each side of the stair halls. These small storage rooms have vinyl tile floors, flat plaster walls, applied fiberboard tile ceilings, simple wooden window sills, and modern shelving.

The second floor contains eight classrooms. The layout is consistent with the first floor; however, the location of the administrative office section is utilized as a full classroom on the second floor. All finishes are consistent with the first floor. In the central section, the spaces above the stair halls are utilized as small offices. The offices were created by enclosing these spaces, originally open to the hallway, with modern drywall construction. The interiors of these spaces have vinyl-tile floors, faux wood paneling, and applied fiberboard tile ceilings.

The attic is unfinished space, utilized as storage. The wood truss system is exposed, along with the interior brick walls of the pedimented cross gables. Floors are wood planks. A pair of hatches with wooden stairs provides access to the roof at the north and south ends of the building (above the original 1898 building and 1911 addition). Brick chimneys extend up through the space. All of the chimneys are in poor condition, and have deteriorated beyond repair as a result of water infiltration and the seasonal freeze-thaw cycle.

Rehabilitation Project

The building is currently undergoing a state and federal historic tax-advantaged rehabilitation into affordable housing for veterans. As part of the rehabilitation project, the red-brick masonry exterior is being cleaned, repaired, and repointed. The existing, late 20th-century aluminum sash will be retained and reused. The existing asphalt-shingle and rubber-membrane roof covering will be removed and replaced with a new rubber-membrane system and asphalt shingles. The chimneys will be deconstructed, and the existing bricks will be salvaged and reused to reconstruct each chimney with the same exterior appearance and dimensions as the existing ones.

On the interior, the original classroom layout is being maintained, with modifications to accommodate the new residential use. Significant interior features and finishes, such as slate chalkboards and wood doors and trim, are being retained. The original circulation network of central corridors and stair halls is also being retained, further maintaining the historic character of the building.