Vacant School Building in Lansing MI
Walter H. French Junior High School, Lansing Michigan
The Walter French Junior High School, with its polychromatic and ornamental Arts-and-Crafts-influenced design that features Tudor-inspired detailing, is one of the three largest and most architecturally significant public school buildings built before World War II standing in Lansing, the others being Eastern and Sexton High Schools. The building was designed by Lansing-based architect Judson N. Churchill, who had a general practice but who appears to have specialized in school architecture during the early twentieth century. The school is the largest of his known buildings, which included several in Lansing and others located across the southern part of Michigan. The Walter French Junior High School also made important contributions to the field of education in Lansing with the development of a progressive curriculum.
Population growth during the 1910s and 20s was so rapid that overcrowding in the city's schools was a significant issue. The driving force behind this growth was the booming automobile industry, which established a strong presence in the southern part of Lansing during this time period. The South Side area included the Reo Automobile Company (2100 S. Washington Ave.), Atlas Drop Forge (209 W. Mt. Hope Ave.), the Olds Motor Works (920 Townsend) and other auto-related manufacturers. The rapid growth of these companies made it necessary to hire more workers, but a severe housing shortage was limiting their ability to do so. This shortage was also due in part by the presence of returning World War I veterans who were looking for housing. In response to the demand for housing near the South Side's expanding industries several subdivisions were platted during the 1910s and 20s. Significant development of these areas, however, did not occur until after 1917 when the area south of Mt. Hope Ave. was annexed to the City of Lansing. Within a few years, these neighborhoods were populated with working-class families that included many of German, English, Polish, and Irish descent. This influx of workers, along with their children, to the southern part of the city increased overcrowding in the Lansing schools and required the construction of a junior high school in the area to elevate this problem. In April of 1924 the Lansing Board of Education acquired a six-acre site located at the southwest corner of Mt. Hope Ave. and Cedar Street for the purposes of building this new junior high. This property was purchased at a cost of $50,000.
Professor Walter H. French, the school's namesake, was a well-regarded educational leader who lived in the Lansing area. He graduated from Michigan State Normal College (now Eastern Michigan University), located in Ypsilanti, in 1885 and started his teaching career shortly after that in Litchfield, Michigan. French rose through the ranks and eventually served as the superintendent of Litchfield Public Schools between the years 1888 and 1893. From 1893 to 1900 he was Commissioner of Schools in Hillsdale County.
From this position, he served approximately eight years as the Assistant State Superintendent of Public Instruction. In 1908, French was appointed president of the Michigan State Teacher's Association. In that same year, he was appointed to the position of Professor of Agricultural Education at Michigan Agricultural College (MAC), present-day Michigan State University. The Department of Agricultural Education at the college, under Professor French's guidance, promoted agricultural clubs throughout Michigan. His department helped to organize several of these clubs under the title of Junior Agricultural Associations throughout the state. Eventually, he was appointed the Head of the Department of Education at MAC. He died approximately a year and a half before the Walter French Junior High School's opening, on January 1st, 1924, after giving a dedication speech for the Masonic Temple in Lansing.
Judson N. Churchill, a local architect, submitted preliminary plans to the Lansing Board of Education for the junior high school building in April 1924. His design was for a three-story brick structure with an L-shaped footprint. Interior spaces included large classrooms, laboratories for manual arts and sciences, a library, and administrative offices. A rear wing included a cafeteria and swimming pool on the first floor, as well as a 1,200-seat assembly hall on the second. Two large gymnasiums were located to the rear of this hall. His plans were reviewed and subsequently selected in August of 1924 by the school board. A request for proposals was published in a September issue of Michigan Contractor and Builder to seek bids for construction of the building. The Reniger Construction Company was ultimately selected for the job. They broke ground and started construction on the school site in November of 1924. Hy-Tex brick was chosen by the school board for the exterior of the building in a "light buff shade." Bricks in several different colors were also used to create patterns in the exterior brickwork - this kind of ornamental brickwork, some of it in diaper patterns inspired by Tudor architecture, seems to have been something of a Churchill trademark, used in his Fremont school and others of his school buildings. The total cost of construction for the junior high was $467,600.
The Walter H. French Junior High School was the last of three junior high schools built in Lansing during the 1920s. Unlike the first two junior high schools built during this period (West and Pattengill) which had an E plan, Walter French was built in an L shape. It was also the first junior high to be designed with an auditorium. The building was not only intended for grades seventh through ninth, but also included additional space for first through sixth grades.
The school was completed and classes began in September 1925. J. W. Slaughter served for nineteen years as the school's first principal. Under his guidance and leadership the school garnered national recognition. In 1929 state school officers were asked to designate one school that best represented the junior high school system in Michigan. Walter French Junior High was selected and personally surveyed by leading education expert Dr. R. L. Lyman of Chicago University. In the same year Lyman wrote about his survey in one of the most well-known academic journals covering education at the time, School Review. According to local newspaper accounts, this article soon after became required reading for education students at Columbia University in New York as well as other schools across the country.
The article complemented the building for being "unusually well planned." The school administration was said to demonstrate four departures from the practices of other junior high schools in the decade prior. The first of these was the practice allowing students to select elective classes so that they might pursue special interests in their course of study in addition to the core curriculum. Second was the attention that was placed on the individual needs of the student. The school did not perform any formal testing in order to group students with those of a similar aptitude, which was a widely used practice at the time. The third item referenced was the encouraging of cooperation between home and school. Said to be the most successfully executed of these policies, this practice encouraged parents to be more involved and aware of the current educational practices. Finally, the school emphasized good citizenship, with each student following a list of ten qualifications required for becoming a good citizen.
In June of 1950, the Everett District to the south was annexed and all elementary school grades were removed from the building. At the same time district boundary lines were changed throughout Lansing and as a result the eighth and ninth grade students from Everett were transferred to Walter French. By 1955 the school carried an enrollment of 1,310 students; this number would increase to 1,610 by 1961.
In 1956, the Lansing School Board contracted Warren S. Holmes Co., a Lansing-based architecture firm, to design an addition to the building. The firm specialized in educational buildings, having designed a multitude of schools and school additions across the state of Michigan between 1920 and the 1960s. In 1957, a new wing was added to west end of the building. Construction work was contracted through Granger Brothers of Lansing at a cost of $481,841, with new equipment costing $16,500.
The interior of the addition included an office, seven classrooms, six conference rooms, special education rooms for boys and girls, two art rooms and rooms for the band, choir, and orchestra. Interior spaces featured asphalt tile in classrooms, terrazzo tile in the hallways and bathrooms, linoleum in the music rooms, metal acoustical pan ceilings, classroom ventilators, and hydraulic elevators. When completed, the addition brought the capacity up to equal that of the other three junior high schools in the district.
Between the opening of the building in 1925 and 1962, the school board purchased adjacent land directly to the south so that the total school property included 7.7 acres. One of these transactions occurred in the fall of 1957 when a house along Cedar Street was purchased. Between 1973 and 1976 the school district invested approximately $2.3 million in building upgrades. These improvements included a large gymnasium addition on the rear wing of the school.
These renovations took place as growing suburban development around the city's edges, aging housing in the city, and other circumstances combined to bring about a slow eroding of the city's population base. The school district itself was soon affected by a tide of declining enrollment numbers and resulting financial issues. These factors resulted in the closure of the Walter H. French Junior High School in August of 1981, after the last summer school classes were dismissed. The community came out in strong support of keeping the school open, but the school board ultimately decided it could not afford the cost.
Following its closure, the building remained vacant for several years until the Lansing School Board sold the property to a private developer in 1984. The owners, the Eyde Group, leased the building to a charter school, the Walter French Academy, in 1996. In 2004, the state revoked the school's charter because of poor performance and the mismanagement of their finances. This forced them to leave the building. The school has remained vacant since that time.
Judson N. Churchill
Judson N. Churchill (1871-1933) was one of Lansing's prominent architects during the first half of the twentieth century. He was born in a log house in St. Clair County, Michigan, on June 20th, 1871. He graduated from Capac High School and began teaching with a second grade certificate in 1892. Churchill continued as an educator for approximately eight years. In his spare time, he worked towards his ultimate goal of becoming an architect, taking night courses while working as a carpenter during the day. In 1907 he attended the University of Michigan, taking several courses in their architecture program.
In 1903 Churchill began his architectural career in Lansing by opening his own practice. Over almost three decades he was involved in the design of many residential, commercial, fraternal, and religious buildings located throughout the state. Examples of his work in Lansing include the Washington Apartments (1922-23) located on S. Washington Avenue and the Bank of Lansing branch (1928) located on E. Grand River Avenue. He became especially well-known for his design of school buildings in Lansing and throughout southern Michigan. His work was so well regarded by the Lansing Board of Education that the board hired him to serve as their resident architect. In this capacity he designed new buildings and reviewed plans submitted to the school board by other architects. Within the City of Lansing he is credited with designing the Moores Park School (1906, demolished 1957), Allen Street School (1913), Christiancy School (1914, demolished 1971), as well as additions to several schools including West Junior High. Churchill died from a self-inflicted shotgun wound on January 14th, 1933. According to newspaper reports, he was overwrought about his own ill health and poor business conditions.
Several of his school buildings built during the 1910s and 20s reflect an interest in Arts-and-Crafts decorative brickwork. This included the use of bricks in different hues and in intricate designs to enliven the exteriors of otherwise relatively simple and unadorned buildings. The Fremont High School in Fremont, Michigan, and the Allen Street School in Lansing use this technique but have less of this detailing. Walter French's strips and panels of this brickwork give the building exterior much of its character. Brickwork manuals that were published during this time period, including the one produced by the Hydraulic-Press Brick Company, are possible sources of inspiration for his detail work on these structures. Out of all of Churchill's known school buildings, Walter French represents the largest and most outstanding example of this Arts-and-Crafts-inspired ornamental brickwork of any of his known school buildings.
City of Lansing
Prior to 1815 south central Michigan was only thinly settled because of forays into the area by Native Americans and rumors that the soils were not fertile. The Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794) in northwest Ohio demonstrated the military superiority of the United States over the Miami, Shawnee, Delaware, and Wyandot coalition, and resulted in the Treaty of Greenville (1795). After the treaty was signed, the region was effectively opened up for settlement. However, permanent American settlement did not gather momentum until the War of 1812 removed British support for Native American raids and harassment. After the war, and by the terms of several treaties, the Wyandot, Ottawa, Shawnee, Delaware, Seneca, Potawatomie and Chippewa ceded all remaining lands in the region, except for specified reservations, to the U.S. government. In 1830 the federal Indian Removal Act was enacted to exchange all Indian holdings east of the Mississippi River for western lands. The last of the reserves was forfeited by 1842.
The original and current routing of some roads leading to Lansing served as important travel routes for Native Americans long before the first Europeans arrived. The Grand River Trail was an important travel route and a link to the outside world for settlers. The first settler at this location, John Burchard, built a cabin and dam at the river in 1843. In 1847 the still largely wilderness site was selected by the state legislature as the location of a new capitol city for the state, and surveyors laid out a city plat. First named Michigan, the settlement was renamed Lansing in 1849. The township had only eighty-eight residents in 1840, but by 1850 (after it became the state capital) it had grown to 1,556 people. The settlement grew steadily and achieved city status with a population of 4,000 in 1859. Even at this relatively early date, Lansing was home to a core of industry, including iron foundries, machine shops and mechanic shops.
In 1860 and 1870 the population more than doubled each decade, to 3,582 and 7,445, but growth slowed during the decade of the 1880s, increasing only to 8,313. The influence of a growing industrial economy and the jobs it offered is reflected from the 1890s through 1950. Initially the steady growth raised the population to 13,102 in 1890 and 16,485 at the turn of the century. The growth accelerated in the following decades, largely spurred by the emergence of the automobile industry and associated second-tier suppliers. Population nearly doubled to 31,229 in 1910, and again to 57,327 in 1920, which is also the largest absolute population increase by the city in any decade. As Lansing's auto industry expanded, the city's population grew to 78,397 in 1930, but growth slowed during the Depression, as revealed by the 1940 figure of 82,796. Momentum resumed in the post war period, reaching a population of 92,129 in 1950.
Since the first arrival of permanent white settlers, the Grand River has always been a focus for industry in Lansing. The earliest small shops clustered along it, and manufacturers of various types and sizes continued to locate along its banks until the early 1900s. Virtually all of these shops and small businesses were family-owned and depended on local business to survive. Plows, wagons, and stoves were some of the earliest manufactured goods in the city. Through the second half of the nineteenth century Lansing's industrial base grew in tandem with the growth of mechanization and improved transportation. Better roads and the expanding railroad network also allowed firms to grow because they could now access larger regional and national markets. As a result, industry ceased to be family-based and was generally controlled by stock companies and investors. Throughout this evolution the Grand River continued to be a magnet for industrial development.
The combination of a central location, good rail transportation, and the human component of civic boosterism were strong factors in Lansing's industrial growth and success. By 1890 the city was served by five railroad lines. At the close of the nineteenth century, Lansing's population was 25,180, while Ingham County's population was 48,222. Lansing had become an industrial and transportation center.
As Lansing's auto industry developed in the early twentieth century, additional workers were needed and the expanding service industry, growing with the city's population, required more staff. Jobs were plentiful in Lansing, attracting people from different places and cultures who came by steamer, train or automobile. Many traveled to link up with family members already here. African Americans came from the south, surging northward to take advantage of employment opportunities, primarily in the service industry. Most Mexican Americans came by car from the Texas area, many starting as migrant workers and then moving into industrial positions such as in foundries and forges as circumstances permitted. Each group clustered in its own neighborhood, formed ethnic organizations, and followed cultural lifeways. Different peoples all came in search of the same thing: steady work, steady income, and opportunity for their children.
By the twentieth century, Lansing had developed notoriety in its primary manufacturing industries. The October 14th, 1904, issue of the Detroit Free Press featured Lansing under the title "Remarkable Growth" and "Lansing Shows it in its Manufacturing Interests," describing it as the fastest-growing city in the state. In the article many numbers were provided to demonstrate Lansing's boom economy. For example, in the four-year period commencing in 1900, the number of manufacturing plants increased by nearly one-third, wages and employee output were each up 100% or more, and capital investment was up 191%. In the middle of the first decade of the twentieth century Lansing was home to a number of important industrial operations: E. Bement & Sons, producing bobsleighs; the Olds Motor Works, automobiles; Lansing Wheelbarrow Co.; Olds Gasoline Engine Works; Hugh Lyons & Company, store fixtures and show cases; Maud S. Windmill Company, windmills, tank heaters, pumps and tanks; and W. K. Prudden & Company, automobile wheels.
Between 1900 and 1910 the population of Lansing nearly doubled, increasing by over 15,000 people. It nearly doubled again between 1910 and 1920. In 1916 alone over 1000 houses were built in the city to meet the surging demand for housing. The rapid population growth occurred in tandem with the expansion of the automobile and automobile components industries in the city. A good part of Lansing's prosperity was arriving by way of the railroads. Passenger trains brought new laborers for the factories, while freight trains brought the necessities of manufacturing into Lansing and carried away the finished products to market. The modernization of the factory system created more employment positions as the manufacturer became more efficient and the product became more affordable to the public. The numerous job openings created opportunities not only for Lansing residents, but also for others newly arrived in the city, including people migrating from the state's rural areas and also immigrants from Europe. Foreign-born Lansing residents rose from 1,286 in the 1880 census to 3,973 - or nearly 15% of the city's population - by 1910. The predominant nationalities of the arriving immigrants were German, Irish, English and Polish, and the new arrivals provided support to the county's thriving businesses, including the auto industry.
Lansing met World War I with typical patriotic fervor. Its residents, businesses and industries combined to do their part. Numerous Lansing factories, from large to small, produced war material, not only for the United States but also for allied countries in Europe. While some found it difficult to maintain business as usual as regular markets were disrupted and workers enlisted, other companies found the war to be a boon for business. For example, the Reo Motor Truck Company prospered from an order by the U. S. Army to provide 3,000 trucks. Reo also provided vehicles to the French and English armies.
After the war, life in Lansing returned to normal. Industrial plants continued to expand and the demand for labor remained constant. The combination of returning veterans and the recruitment of new workers caused an acute housing shortage. Some factories declared they could no longer continue to expand because there was a shortage of worker housing. In response, developers and real estate firms platted new neighborhoods, encouraged and supported by the city's captains of industry. The Lansing Journal responded with a nine-day "Own Your Own Home" campaign in April of 1919 and local real estate firms directed potential purchasers into blocks of newly constructed housing on the outskirts of town. Among the working-class subdivisions developed during this period were Park Heights, Moores Park, Quentin Park, and Greencroft, all of which were oriented to the auto industries on the south end of the city.
Lansing Public Schools
The first public school in Lansing opened in May of 1847, approximately twelve years prior to the city's incorporation. This school served only ten students and was located in the north village near what would become known as the Cedar Street School. Other public school buildings were constructed in the middle and south villages of Lansing between this time and 1851. The Lansing city charter provided for the consolidation of these three schools into the Lansing School District in 1861. By 1868 a fourth school was constructed to meet the increased demand placed on the district by its residents. The building was located in the fourth ward at the corner of Kilborn and Walnut streets.
Through the remainder of the nineteenth century Lansing's developed areas continued to expand and the population to rise as the city became a large industrial center. With this growth came the creation of additional wards by city officials. The fifth and sixth wards were added in 1871 and 1874, respectively. Lansing saw its first high school constructed in 1868, and an addition built in 1875. From the 1870s to the 1880s new schools were constructed in the third and fifth wards. Even with the massive amounts of construction activity, the Lansing School System continued to struggle with overcrowded schools. In the 1890s four new schools were built, and most existing schools were expanded to provide additional space by 1910. These schools were located in the emerging suburban areas on the city's periphery.
The booming automobile industry at the turn of the century was attracting laborers from across the country. These workers came with their families, increasing the pressure on the already overburdened school system. In direct response to the explosion in population the school board authorized construction of the first Moores Park School in 1906 and the Franklin Avenue School in 1910. Even with this new construction, the problem of overcrowding in the school system persisted through first two decades of the twentieth century.
In the late 1910s and early 1920s the Board of Education began looking at additional ways to alleviate their overcrowding problem. The curriculum structure for the Lansing School District during this time period was established in 1880. It provided for a primary department for the first four grades, a grammar department for the second four, and a high school department for the last four grades. The primary and grammar departments were located in one building while the high school department was in another. This system was fundamentally changed in Lansing in 1921 with the creation of a junior high school system. Referred to as the "six-three-three structure," it was first implemented in Michigan school districts starting around 1912. This new system included first through sixth grade in elementary school, seventh through ninth in junior high school, and tenth through twelfth grade in high school.
The school system saw several major advantages in the new junior high school system. One was that it helped to alleviate the persistent overcrowding problems in the existing elementary and high school buildings. It also reduced the dropout rate between eighth and ninth grades. This reduction resulted from improved supervision of pupils by instructors due to smaller classroom sizes. It also allowed instructors to focus on one subject, which increased their effectiveness with students. Students had the added benefit by being given an opportunity to select a course of study that he or she could continue to pursue once they got to high school. In order to implement this change the Board of Education authorized the construction of three new junior high school buildings over a five-year span. The first of these, West Junior High, was constructed between 1919 and 1920 for $200,000. In 1922 a $135,000 addition was constructed and another in 1929 for $188,000. Since the late 1960s the school, located at the west edge of the downtown in an area that retains few residences, has been used as the Board of Education's administration building. Major alterations to the building's exterior including window replacement and concrete panels covering portions the original brick veneer have negatively impacted the overall integrity of the building.
During the construction of West Junior High the Board of Education was in negotiations with the State of Michigan to purchase a 13-acre piece of land located on the Boys' Vocational School property on N. Pennsylvania Avenue on the city's East Side. This site was acquired in 1919 for $90,000 and the board constructed a second school on the property the following year. Eastern (later called Pattengill) Junior High was opened in 1921 and cost $301,000 to construct with an addition built the following year for $142,000. This building was demolished in 2009 following construction of a replacement school at a different site. Walter French was the last of the junior high schools to be constructed during this time period and is the only retaining a fair measure of integrity. At the time these schools were said to be the most significant educational advancement in the City of Lansing in a half-century.
Site Description
The Walter H. French Junior High School is a three-story, steel-frame brick building of Tudor inspiration, with a flat roof, large window bays, parapets with stone copings, elaborate stone door surrounds and intricate polychromatic brickwork. It stands on a concrete foundation. The school has an irregular footprint consisting of a main V-shaped mass, a rear wing and an addition to the: west. The building is oriented with the point of the main mass facing the intersection with a west wing along Mt. Hope Avenue and a south wing along Cedar Street. The rectangular rear wing was in the original design but was expanded several times between 1957 and 1976. An addition was built onto the west end of the building in 1957 and projects out past the north elevation of the original school. It is three stories tall and steps down to a one-story portion to the rear.
The Walter H. French Junior High School is located on the south side of Lansing in an early twentieth-century residential neighborhood at the intersection of Mt. Hope Avenue and Cedar Street. Cedar Street is a major north-south thoroughfare that bisects the city. The neighborhood generally consists of one to two-story single-family residences, with commercial properties, along with a number of churches, located primarily along Cedar Street. The building sits on a level 10.31-acre lot and is located on the southwest corner of the intersection. It is set back from both roads approximately 150 feet with the intervening space covered with paved walkways, landscaped lawn, a playground and several mature deciduous trees. Several driveways and paved parking areas are positioned to the south and west of the school.
Original 1925 Building
The original 1925 school is a three-story brick building with an irregular footprint consisting of an L-shaped main mass and a third wing to the rear. The two main wings of the school meet at a right angle. The three-bay angled facade (northeast elevation) faces this intersection and is symmetrical with a concrete stair and landing which leads to the front entrance. The structure has a concrete foundation and a stone water table. The school also has a flat roof and parapet walls with stone coping. Exterior walls are visually separated into a first floor and the two upper stories. The ground story includes a limestone base that rises to the window sill level and a finish of horizontal brickwork bands above. This brickwork includes seven courses of lighter color stretchers alternating with a single course of rowlocks, predominantly of red brick. The two upper stories feature wide two-part piers with a strip of light-colored headers flanked by dark red soldier brick. These piers separate each pair of window bays, with a half-width pier separating each window pair. The bulkhead beneath each broad window displays rectangular panels of lighter brick outlined with contrasting shades of red brick. Within these panels decorative central lozenge and X forms in red brick are displayed.
Between the first and second stories, there is a stone belt course. A stone string course separates the third floor from the entablature. The entablature includes a stone cornice. Window openings are separated by brick-patterned pilasters that extend from the belt course above the first story to just past the roofline. A mixture of framed carved stone cartouches and diamonds adorn the entablature while stone lions' heads decorate the bottom of the piers at the belt course. The last two bays on the far end of the south and west wings include centrally placed stepped and gabled parapets. A tall brick smokestack projects past the roofline and is connected to the rear elevation of the west wing.
Exterior brickwork includes a variety of elaborate polychromatic brick and bond patterns. Colors of brick used include various shades of yellow, red, and brown. Bond patterns used throughout the building include common bond, header bond, soldier bond, and checkerboard. Brick for the building was produced by the Hydraulic-Press Brick Company of Saint Louis, Missouri. They published a booklet in 1914 called Bonds and Mortars in the Wall of Brick, which provided information on their Hy-tex Brick and how to create artistic designs in masonry with their product. The patterns described in the booklet are used extensively in the exterior of this original building.
An example of this polychromatic brickwork is found on the south elevation of the south wing. Two large panels of polychromatic brick flank a central bay and are bordered by strips of stretcher and soldier brick. Within the border, according to the booklet's description, the pattern is a " … very mixed bond, [which] shows the dovetail units separated by header borders which form interlacing diagonal lines across the surface of the wall". This diaper pattern also appears on the west elevation of the building but has been partially covered by the 1957 addition.
The rear wing and rear elevations of the west and south wings of the school are less ornate. All brickwork on these parts of the building is done in common bond and walls are capped with stone coping. The stone belt and string courses as well as the cornice, are continued onto this part of the building. The southwest elevation of this wing also has symmetrically placed brick piers with stone caps; these have been partially covered by the 1973-76 addition.
The formal entry is centered on the angled northeast corner of the school and has an elliptical arch and limestone surround. Directly above the entrance is a three-part, divided light window and a stone dedication panel inscribed with "1925 WALTER H. FRENCH JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL." To either side of this inscription are carved stone candles. The original doors have been replaced with commercial aluminum and glass doors. A large stepped parapet is centered on the facade and contains decorative stone carvings including a wreath.
A secondary entrance is centered on the southern end of the south wing and features a stone elliptical-arch head and limestone surround. Above the entrance is an arched, divided window with thirteen lights. Directly above the window is a carved stone open book topped with a flower. The original double doors have been replaced with commercial aluminum and glass doors. Flanking this entrance are two modern aluminum doors that access an interior stairwell and a classroom.
All windows have been replaced with modern aluminum double-hung sashes with aluminum panels in place of the upper sash. A majority of these have cast stone sills and brick lintels. A construction photograph from 1925 indicates that there were originally nine-over-nine double-hung wood windows. Banks of three windows are symmetrically placed along the front and rear elevations of the primary wings. A paired window flanks either side of the formal entry on the first story. The second and third stories above the entry each have a set of three windows directly above the entrance and a single window to either side. These windows are narrow double-hung sash and are also present above the secondary entrance. Several smaller windows located near interior stairwells at the rear of the school have been replaced with aluminum double-hung sashes or ventilation units. All original window openings have been retained, but all window sash are later replacements.
The interior of the 1925 building has classrooms and offices arranged on either side of a central hallway. Immediately inside the front entrance there is a small lobby and a set of interior doors. These include centered double doors flanked by a two-paneled wall with nine divided lights above and single doors on the outer edges. The original wood doors are two-panel ones with twelve lights above. Directly above this interior entrance is a five-part divided-light window. This area is flanked by second-floor stairs and several small divided office spaces that extend into the west and south wings. To the southwest of the lobby there is a floor-to-ceiling wood three-part display case. On either side there is a smaller two-part wood case. All three are paneled below and have open cabinet space above with the original glass removed. Hallways and stairwells retain their original terrazzo floors. Office and classroom spaces house carpeting or linoleum tiles over original wood flooring. Walls throughout the building are finished in plaster or wallboard.
A decorative glazed red brick veneer half-wall lines the hallways and stairwells and adjoins the interior doorways. Stairwell handrails are faced in the same terrazzo used for flooring. Modern dropped ceilings with acoustic tile have been installed throughout the building. Wide decorative wood molding appears intermittently along the interior corridors. Many of the classrooms and offices throughout the school have original wood doors, including five-panel and three-panel ones each with a light above. These same rooms also retain some of their unpainted wood trim, including door frames, mopboards, blackboard surrounds and picture rails. In several of the classrooms original built-in wood and glass cabinets are retained.
The first floor of both the south and west wings consists of large classrooms, a restroom, and mechanical rooms. Along the south wing corridor there are three large classrooms on the east side of the building and one large classroom with two storage closets, one small classroom, a mechanical room, a restroom, and a storage closet along the west. The west wing has a boiler room, mechanical space, and electrical room along the south side of the corridor. The north side contains two large classrooms and one small classroom. Stairwells are located at either end of both corridors and extend a full three stories.. The rear wing includes a cafeteria, mechanical room, maintenance shop, several locker rooms, showers, and a pool.
The second floor is laid out somewhat similar to the first. The south wing has seven small classrooms along the east side of the corridor and one large classroom, two small classrooms, a restroom, and a storage closet along the west. The west wing includes two large classrooms, a bathroom, and a closet along the south side of the hallway. The north side of the same corridor has four small classrooms and a large lab room. At the intersection of the two hallways there are a series of interconnected offices that surround the lobby stairway.
To the southwest of the twin stairs, the rear wing includes an over 6,300 square-foot auditorium. A proscenium arch frames the elevated stage within the space and is outlined with decorative molding and flanked by pilasters. Each pilaster contains a speaker, which is covered with an elaborate metal grille and the initials "WF" centered within the main field. Pilasters also appear on each of the side walls as with narrow examples located at the front corners of the auditorium. The lower portion of the wall around the perimeter of the auditorium is faced with wood paneling. A balcony also runs along the rear wall opposite the stage and is reached through several doorways on the third floor. Seating on the main floor and the balcony is the original wood and steel. A hallway and a set of terrazzo-faced double stairs flank either side of the auditorium. The hallway leads to two gymnasiums also located in this rear wing. These gyms retain their original wood floors and brick walls. The larger of the two includes an upper story balcony with bleachers, supported by brick walls below. Two stairwells are also located between the rear of the auditorium and the gymnasiums.
The lobby stairs continue up to the third floor, which contains additional classroom spaces. At the top of this stairway there is a large wood skylight, with twenty-four lights, centered over the intersection of the two wings. Two smaller twelve-light skylights are located in the west and south wings of the building. The south wing contains restrooms, a large classroom, and two smaller rooms on the west side of the corridor and one large and five smaller classrooms on the east. The west wing includes three smaller classrooms with restrooms along the south side of the corridor. The north side includes one large and four small classrooms. Three of the smaller rooms have been divided into office spaces. The auditorium balcony is accessible through doors located in both corridors.
1957 Addition
To the west of the original 1925 school is a one to three-story addition. Completed in 1957, it has a rectangular footprint and projects north toward Mt. Hope Avenue from the northern elevation of the original building. The addition has a concrete foundation and a stone water table. Walls are of concrete block with brick veneer. The addition is more subdued in architectural details, lacking the elaborate brick patterns and decorative stonework found on the original structure. The common bond is used throughout the building and brick is similar in size and color to that of the original structure. A brick border, consisting of strips of headers and stretchers, flanks either side of the entrance. These tie the addition back to the two more decorative brick panels on the south elevation of the original building. The stone water table, belt course, string course and cornice on the original building have been continued onto the north and east elevations of this addition. They extend only one bay deep on the building's west elevation. An almost completely worn away inscription reading "ADDITION 1957" is carved into the stone water table on the northwest comer of the addition.
The facade of the addition is symmetrical and features a semicircular arched doorway with stone surround. The metal double doors appear to be original and have twelve divided lights and two panels below. A semicircular window with thirteen divided lights is located above these doors. A simple secondary entry is centered on the west elevation and covered with a small awning.
A majority of the windows throughout the addition are original wood nine-over-nine-light double-hung sash. There are also a few six-over-six and four-over-four-light double-hung sash windows located near interior stairwells. As in the original building, all windows have cast stone sills. This addition also includes an irregularly shaped one-story building, which is attached to the south elevation. The brick structure has a flat roof and stone copping. Window openings contain sets of three modern horizontal aluminum windows that are non-operable. An awning projects from the south elevation over an entrance enclosed with particle board.
The interior of the 1957 addition has an L-shaped layout with classroom spaces arranged to either side of a central hallway. The small leg of the L connects the building to the original 1925 school. Lockers line the corridors on all three floors. Ceilings are furnished with acoustic tile and hallway floors are of terrazzo while classroom floors are covered with carpet. Shop rooms in the one-story part of the addition have concrete floors. The lower portions of some walls in classroom spaces are faced in yellow glazed tiles. Inside the main entrance on the north end of the addition is a stairwell that extends the full three stories. A half-wall of pink tile, which has been painted red, decorates the walls of this staircase. This same tile also appears intermittently along the hallways but has been painted white.
The first floor contains restrooms, two shop rooms, and several small classrooms. Some of the classrooms have been subdivided further to provide additional office space. The second and third floors are arranged similarly to the first, with restrooms and four classroom spaces. Unlike the first floor, though, these rooms have not been subdivided.
1973-76 Addition
The rear wing of the original 1925 school was expanded in the period between 1973 and 1976. The main mass of the addition has an irregular footprint and ranges from one to three stories tall. The building sits on a concrete foundation and has a stone water table. The polychromatic brick of the original building was replicated in this addition but lacks the decorative patterned brickwork of the original. The walls are constructed using common bond with the bricks in the first story header rows having a dark red color. The look of the 1925 rear wing was replicated with the use of brick piers with sloped stone caps, which are symmetrically placed on all elevations. A stone string course separates the parapet from the rest of the wall and the wall is capped with stone copping. Two large vents are located in the upper part of the south elevation. A one-story portion of this addition runs along the northwest elevation of the original rear wing. This addition is also one story tall along its southeastern elevation. The two-story portion is irregularly shaped and is attached to the southeast elevation of the original rear wing. These additions include large metal awnings that extend over all entry doors. These portions of the addition also display several modern narrow windows.
The main portion of the interior of this addition is comprised of an over 9,800-square-foot, three-story gymnasium. The first floor contains a lobby, which is entered from the southeast side of the building. This lobby connects to two restrooms, the main gym, and to a hallway leading to showers. An interior hallway separates the gymnasium from the pool in the original rear wing. This area also accesses a stairwell that leads to the second floor of the addition. Several storage rooms are also located on the first floor. On the northwest side of the rear wing a long hallway wraps around the exterior, connecting this addition to the original 1925 building. The second floor only contains an irregularly shaped part of the addition, which is connected to the southeast elevation of the rear wing. This area includes a large storage area and a mechanical room.
First Floor Plan (2014)
Second Floor Plan (2014)
Third Floor Plan (2014)
Front (northeast) elevation of school building, showing the primary entrance, south and west wings, and the 1957 addition (right) (2014)
Front entrance detail (2014)
Side (south) and front (east) elevations of the school, showing west wing and polychromatic brickwork panels (2014)
Brickwork details under windows on west wing (2014)
Side (east) and front (north) elevations of the 1957 school addition (2014)
Side (west) elevation of the 1957 school addition (2014)
Looking east toward 1957 school addition, showing bank of original nine-over-nine-light wood sash (2014)
Side (southwest) and rear (south) elevations of the 1957 school addition (2014)
Rear (southwest) elevation of school, including the 1957 addition (left), the 1925 building (center) and the 1973-76 addition (right) (2014)
Rear (southwest) elevation of school, including the 1925 south wing (left) and the 1973-76 addition (right) (2014)
