Vacant Elementary School in MO with elaborate ventilation system with Foul Air Gathering Space

Bancroft School, Kansas City Missouri

Date added: April 26, 2024

Front (east) elevation of main block and 1922 addition (2011)

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Between 1904 and 1907, three two-room frame school buildings were constructed on the southeast corner of East 43^rd Street and Tracy Avenue. A fourth building was moved to the site from East 39^th Street and Warwick Boulevard in August of 1908 to accommodate increased student enrollment. Less than one year later, however, a building permit was issued to build a new two-story, 100' x 86' "Bancroft Schoolhouse" of brick and stone with a concrete roof. The new building opened in April 1910, educating 406 neighborhood students in nine classrooms. A second permit was issued in 1913 to build an additional 85' x 72' brick and reinforced concrete structure. This section completed the symmetrical main block and contained 18 additional classrooms. Enrollment grew to 920 children by the early 1920s. A third permit was issued in 1922 to construct a brick and concrete addition to house the gymnasium, auditorium, and additional classrooms.

In 1904 the Bancroft School was named in honor of the noted American historian and politician George Bancroft. It served students in kindergarten through sixth grade who lived in an area bounded by Gillham Road on the west, Woodland Avenue on the east, East 40^th Street on the north, and East 47^th Street on the south. The Bancroft School served the children in this neighborhood until it closed in 2000. The property remained vacant until the school district sold it to a private entity in 2009.

The Bancroft School is an example of a public grade school building constructed in the early twentieth century for the Kansas City, Missouri School District. Kansas City School Board architect Charles A. Smith designed the center pavilion and south wing in 1909. The north wing was added in 1913, completing the symmetry of the main block of the building. The south addition constructed in 1922 contained classrooms as well as the stacked auditorium and gymnasium. The Bancroft School retains the exterior features that reflect a restrained version of the Classical Revival architectural style and the interior features that exemplify a Progressive Era grade school.

The two-story building exhibits a simplified version of the three-part base-shaft-capital facade configuration typical of the Classical Revival style. A limestone belt-course caps the plain brick base of the ground-floor level. Brick pilasters with simple limestone bases and capitals divide the facade into regular bays in the two-story "shaft" portion. A tall parapet with terra cotta ornament and a Flemish cross pattern executed in dark gray brick forms the "capital." The front (east) facade of the main block is symmetrical around a prominent entrance, a common feature in many public school buildings constructed during this era. The tapestry brick is laid in a variety of bond patterns across the building to create visual interest and distinguish spaces. The massing, symmetry, and restrained ornament communicate the simple, refined Classical Revival style often employed on civic and institutional buildings from the early twentieth century.

The interior of the Bancroft School contains the important identifying features of a Progressive Era public grade school building. Wood doors with large, operable transoms line the long, double-loaded corridors on each floor. The wide corridors and open stairwells are concrete, as is the building structure. The corridor doors access narrow coat closets and adjacent classrooms. The perimeter walls of the spacious classrooms contain banks of tall windows. The windows and transoms complement the building's integrated ventilation system. Tall louvered vents flanking the main entry on the front elevation draw fresh air into the building and stacks at the rear vent stale air. The original wood and brass controlling mechanism for the ventilation system is extant. Large bathrooms designed to accommodate multiple students occupy space in the basement. These specially designed measures to improve safety, cleanliness, and ventilation address issues central to the Progressive Movement.

Standardization efforts among school districts, initiated during the Progressive Era (1900-1930), affected school curricula, teacher qualifications, teaching materials, and even school designs." Architects and educators published plan books for school buildings, similar to those that popularized residential designs. Their ideal school was two or three stories tall with a symmetrical facade and a flat roof. Limestone, pressed metal, or terra cotta trim commonly ornamented red brick walls using elements from one of the revival architectural styles popular during this period, although the expression of style was typically restrained. Articulated entrances centered on the symmetrical front elevation and parapets or cornices were the most ornate elements of school buildings.

Materials and design elements reflected a concern for safety. Fireproof materials, such as concrete, steel, and masonry, were widely used for building structures. Brick, concrete or stone clad the exterior of the structure, while combustible woodwork was minimized on the interior.

Wide hallways and stairways enabled efficient evacuation of a school in the event of an emergency. These features were often highlighted in promotional literature published during a school's construction or upon opening.

School buildings evolved from the vernacular one-room schoolhouse to have multiple classrooms arranged on either side of a double-loaded corridor. The most common floor plans were T, I, L or U-shaped. Large expanses of windows admitted natural light and fresh air. Operable transoms aided in ventilating the corridors. Elaborate ventilation systems were also designed to extract "foul air' and introduce fresh air into classrooms, offices, and corridors. Gymnasiums, auditoriums, libraries and cafeterias served specialized functions. Auditoriums and libraries were often utilized by the larger community for meetings and other functions. By the 1910s school buildings also had specially designed areas for the study of science, home economics, and agriculture, industrial and manual training.

The design of the Bancroft School clearly illustrates these standards. It is a fireproof concrete structure with wide corridors and stairwells. On the exterior, the brick walls have decorative terra cotta and ornamental brick patterning that present restrained elements of Classical Revival styling. On the interior, the I-shaped corridors are lined with classrooms The classrooms have banks of windows and large transoms above the doors to provide natural light and promote air circulation. A historic addition contains the auditorium and gymnasium. The basement historically contained a manual training room and a playroom as well as the restrooms.

Building Description

The Bancroft School at 4300 Tracy Avenue, Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri sits atop a hill within a predominantly residential neighborhood on the east side of midtown Kansas City. The two-story building has a raised basement. A rusticated limestone foundation supports the concrete structure and brick walls. The irregularly-shaped building has a flat roof and two projecting wings on the south and west elevations. The Bancroft School was constructed in three phases between 1909 and 1922, with each phase employing the same facade organization and materials as the previous phase. The main block of the building was built in two parts in 1909 and 1913. It exhibits a symmetrical Classical Revival form embellished with restrained Flemish ornament, such as the brick diamond pattern and arched stone ornament at the parapet. The symmetrical massing, brick construction, pilasters, and terra cotta trim communicate elements of the building's Classical Revival style. Many of the original interior features and finishes are extant, including the original configuration of corridors and classrooms and the original interior wood doors and trim.

The Bancroft School stands at the center of the lot occupying the north half of the block bounded by quiet residential streets: East 43^rd Street on the north, Tracy Avenue on the east, and Forest Avenue on the west. One- to three-story single-family dwellings occupy narrow city lots on the blocks surrounding the school. Troost Avenue, two blocks to the west, is a major commercial thoroughfare.

The lot surrounding the Bancroft School is relatively flat, although the west half of the lot is lower than the east. Stairs and a sloped drive address the change in grade, as the entire lot slopes down from east to west. The majority of the lot is paved with faded remnants of striping for elementary school playground games. A chain-link fence encircles the property. Public sidewalks line the perimeter of the lot. Concrete stairs and a concrete walk with flanking brick pavers connect the main entrance to the public sidewalk on the east side of the property. The sloped drive at the rear of the building connects a small asphalt parking area immediately west of the building with East 43 Street on the north side of the property. Narrow grassy strips between the public sidewalk and the chain-link fence contain mature deciduous trees.

The Bancroft School is a two-story building with an irregular footprint. The tapestry brick walls have restrained Flemish ornament. The facade is divided into three vertical parts, reflecting the "pase-shaft-capital" arrangement typical of the Classical Revival style. The building was constructed in three phases. The unified facade, however, does not express the three separate building campaigns. The main block was begun in 1909 with the construction of the center pavilion and south wing. Construction of the north wing in 1913 created an I-shaped main block. The main block is symmetrical around the center pavilion, with projecting pavilions at the north and south ends. A small wing, part of the original construction, projects westward from the center of the main block on the rear elevation. The final two-story south addition, completed in 1922, is attached to the south end of the main block. The south addition contains the auditorium and gymnasium.

The building's foundation is limestone. Increasing amounts of the stone are exposed as the grade changes and the lot slopes down to the south and west. The walls of the base above the stone foundation are brick set in a common bond pattern with every sixth course a rowlock course. Single and paired windows pierce the walls. A limestone belt course encircles the building to cap the raised base.

Two-story brick pilasters divide the upper two stories on the front and rear facades of the main block into bays. The pilasters have plain limestone bases and terra cotta caps with simple geometric shapes. Each bay contains a pair of windows with a single limestone sill.

A tall parapet rises from the terra cotta belt course that encircles the building above the second-story windows. Dark gray header and stretcher bricks form a Flemish-style diamond pattern that ornaments the parapet. The parapet and terra cotta coping encircle the main block and the 1922 addition.

The center pavilion on the east elevation contains the main entry. Battered brick pilasters flank the wood-framed entry, which has a multi-light transom and sidelights. A limestone panel above the door has "Bancroft School" carved in relief. The first story contains a limestone bay window. Rectangular window openings are cut into the shallow-arched recessed panels. The arches have exaggerated keystones. Tall, narrow fresh air vents flanking the bay window are also set within shallow-arched recessed panels with exaggerated keystones. A terra cotta beltcourse beneath the second-story windows becomes a small shaped parapet above the bay window. The limestone panel at the center of the parapet contains the image of an open book carved in relief. The second story contains single narrow windows flanking a tripartite window.

The tall parapet above the second story contains a center vent and blind outer panels, each framed with soldier-course brick. Plain terra cotta shields are centered above each panel. A shallow-arched parapet ornamented with scrolls and a center ball tops the terra cotta coping.

Soldier course bricks frame blind panels and terra cotta diamond shapes on all elevations of the ventilation stacks that rise above the roofline on the rear (west) elevation.

The center pavilion on the north elevation projects outward slightly from the facade. It contains a wood-framed entry with a limestone nameplate. The raised basement contains single rectangular windows. Tall, narrow windows flank the arched brick panel at the center of the pavilion. Within the panel, there are windows with tall pointed arches and corbelled brick frames at the second story and short, square window openings at the first story. The arched panel has terra cotta ornament at the keystone and the spring points of the arches.

The west wing at the center of the main block has single windows on all elevations. The terra cotta belt course has simple, geometric shapes articulating the corners of each facade. The low parapet has a terra cotta belt course and coping.

The south addition does not have two-story pilasters but the east facade exhibits the same patterns of fenestration and materials as the main block. The north and south elevations of the addition have paired windows. The west elevation is a blank brick wall. The addition contains a terra cotta belt course and a much shorter parapet with terra cotta coping.

The single and paired multi-light wood doors on all elevations are historic. The secondary entrance to the ground level on the rear elevation has a metal slab door. Aluminum windows fill the historic masonry openings on all elevations. The aluminum windows have an operable hung lower sash and three fixed upper panels. The top panel is opaque. Painted plywood covers some window openings on all elevations.

The main entrance on the east elevation opens to a small ground-floor vestibule with glazed brick walls and ceramic tile floors. Paired wood doors with sidelights and large transoms open into the center stair hall. The stairs lead from the ground level up to the main corridor on the first floor. The first and second floors have wide double-loaded corridors that run north-south. Classrooms flank the long, straight corridors. The corridors have polished concrete floors with integral concrete baseboards, plaster walls, and wood chair and picture rails. Acoustic tiles are adhered to the ceiling of the first-floor corridor. The second-floor ceiling is plaster.

Open stairwells stand at the north and south ends of the main block. These wide concrete stairs have concrete and plaster knee walls with wide wood caps. The north stairwell leads to an exit at ground level. The south stair leads to the 1922 addition which contains an exit on the west end of the south elevation.

The classrooms have tongue and groove wood floors, wood bases, chair rails, and picture rails, and wood frames around the chalkboards with integrated wood chalk trays. The ceilings are either plaster or acoustical tile. Some rooms have composite floor tiles or carpet. Each classroom has a coat room. The narrow coat rooms have linoleum tile floors, beadboard wainscoting, and plaster walls and ceilings. Many of these rooms retain historic hardware. The classrooms and coat rooms retain their historic wood corridor doors, which have two wood panels topped by a glazed panel and large operable transoms. All of the classrooms and corridors have modern light fixtures.

The west wing, centered on the rear elevation of the main block, contains the boiler room and mechanical spaces on the ground floor. A large open room (formerly an assembly room) with tall ceilings occupies the space on the first floor. This room has carpeted floors, plaster walls with wood trim, and acoustical tiles on the ceiling. Across the corridor, a short flight of stairs leads to a small office suite. This space is within the stone bay window visible on the front elevation. The west wall of this room has a band of multi-light windows that face the first-floor corridor.

The second floor contains a small office suite on the west side of the corridor at the center of the main block. A series of historic doors, multi-light windows, and transoms line the corridor at this location. The classroom opposite this space contains a single door flanked by bands of multi-light vertical pivot windows.

The attic space in the center pavilion is accessible from a spiral staircase in the office suite on the second floor. This enclosed, unfinished space was indicated on historic plans as the "Foul Air Gathering Space."

The ground floor does not have the same continuous corridor as the upper floors. A foundation wall intersects the corridor at the north end of the center pavilion, indicating the north wall of the 1909 building. The corridors have concrete floors and plaster walls. The northeast corner room was the lunchroom/cafeteria. Two large rooms south of the center pavilion were historically the boys' and girls' bathrooms. The west bathroom retains plumbing fixtures and toilet partitions while the east bathroom does not retain any fixtures. The exposed stone walls in the ground floor classrooms are painted. The remaining walls are painted brick and plaster. The floors have composite tile flooring and the ceilings are either exposed concrete beams or acoustical tile affixed directly to the structure. These rooms have fewer and simpler finishes than rooms on the upper floors.

Classrooms occupy the east end of the south addition. The finishes are similar to the classrooms in the main block, although the floors are concrete. The gymnasium and auditorium are stacked at the west end of the south addition. The sunken gym has wood floors and plaster walls. Large steel ceiling beams are exposed. The balcony has wood bleachers that are accessible from the ground-floor corridor.

The auditorium retains its historic wood and metal seats and sloped concrete floor. The wood stage has a simple, rectangular proscenium. Plaster dentils ornament the coffered ceiling. Acoustical tiles are affixed to the flat ceiling between the plaster beams. Decorative plaster nameplates with a large "B" set within a cartouche top the side entrances to the backstage areas flanking the stage. The historic light fixtures are missing.