Abandoned Elementary School in Saint Louis MO
Carr School, St. Louis Missouri
The Carr School in St. Louis, Missouri opened in 1909 and remained in use as a public elementary school until the 1980s. Its plan is a variation of the U-plan elementary school, the design William Ittner crafted immediately upon return to the United States after his first European school-study reconnaissance trip some ten years before. Ittner made continual adjustments to all his basic school plans through the years, often with the purpose of suiting building to site and budget; this was the case with Carr School, in which a very tight budget and small lot dictated the "bending" of either side of the center block to join at the center at right angles.
Ittner had a budget of $113,005 for Carr School, some $70,000 less than the amount allotted for the next elementary school he designed. While other elementary schools designed during this period were reflecting some of the elements of the public high schools Ittner had designed, Carr School is more modest. It never had an auditorium (St. Louis' first elementary school auditorium would not be designed until the next year), and the basement rooms were indicated to be playrooms rather than gymnasiums. Despite the small budget, Ittner managed to design a lovely and functional school that does not give the appearance of being too cramped for its lot. The muted yet glorious colors of brick and tile used on the exterior of the building give it a radiant look while small touches like tile insets add charm to the whole.
In the Carr School, Ittner altered his familiar U-shaped plan in which a long, straight center block is flanked by two wings projecting forward at right angles to the block. Had that plan been used on this site, a much smaller building would have resulted. Instead, the long center block is broken into two segments at right angles, joined at the diagonal center bay. The projecting wings of this design serve to "wrap" around the lot to form a courtyard of sorts. The plan still functions the same, with corridors along one side and classrooms along the other, allowing in plenty of light and air. This is the only instance of this plan variation in the St. Louis Public Schools system, causing the design to stand out among Ittner's work.
Ittner designed Carr School's exterior in the Craftsman style. Although he frequently employed elements from the Craftsman vocabulary, this is one of only a few schools that employs the Craftsman idiom as the dominant decorative scheme. However, the intricate use of brick and the red tile roof are characteristic of his designs in other styles. Aside from the unusual plan shape, it is not dissimilar to the other elementary schools he designed for St. Louis.
Unusual for a St. Louis school built as late as 1908, landscaping for Carr School is nonexistent. The school and paved playground fill the entire lot, which is at grade. Sections of the original low wrought-iron fence and the ornamental sign identifying the school (non-original but in place by 1938) are the only other elements on the lot.
Building Description
Carr School, 1419 Carr Street (St. Louis), is a two-story brick Craftsman style elementary school. A modified version of the U-plan, which is bent to resemble an L-shape, the school is sited at the lot lines along the eastern and northern boundaries of the property. The rest of the site is asphalted. Exterior brickwork is primarily variegated Flemish garden wall bond, using more red bricks at the raised basement level and primarily brown hues at the upper stories. Colorful tiles are used for contrast at doors and in figural panels. The gabled roof is of red clay tile with exposed rafter tails, a characteristic of the Craftsman style. Secondary elevations at the north and east lot lines are unornamented brick. The interior plan retains integrity, showing the characteristic classroom arrangement of the Ittner U-shaped plan, but interior finishes are in poor condition due to neglect and vandalism.
Carr School is located at the eastern edge of a residential neighborhood on St. Louis' near north side and is adjacent to both the Carr Square Village housing development of the Saint Louis Housing Authority and a small park. It is diagonally sited on its proportionately small square lot, necessitating the "bent" form of the U-shaped floor plan which serves to define a courtyard like playground. The center bay of the school is situated on the diagonal in the northeast corner of the parcel, facing southwest; two L-shaped wings meet at the center bay at right angles. The roof is covered with red clay tiles and features projecting wood rafter ends; it is punctuated by six dormers. Lower course of the tile roof are deteriorated or missing, and the rafters show evidence of weathering.
Of fireproof concrete construction, the school's exterior brickwork is Flemish garden wall bond in an unusually beautiful variety of colors. Mostly reddish brick was used in the raised basement; above a stone water table, the first story employs a mix of yellow-brown and red-brown brick while the second story is yellow and brown brick with a basketweave lintel course. In the upper two stories, flat-arched windows (boarded sometime between 1987 and 1990), were originally paired six-over-twelve double-hung wood sash, separated by pilasters. Smaller windows each featured eight panes. The gabled center bay features a projecting one-story, flat-roofed five-sided (kindergarten) bay flanked by round-arched entrance openings (boarded); at the second story, three windows are topped by a tripartite blind arcade. The kindergarten bay rests on a square foundation; a wrought-iron railing forms a narrow balcony above the raised basement. The upper and lower portions of the center kindergarten window openings have been filled in with concrete block, faced with compatible brick on the exterior.
Projecting end bays face into the courtyard, elaborated with tapered vergeboards on three knee brace brackets. At the first floor (considered a raised basement), each central door (boarded) is set within a slightly projecting brick frame which extends up above the high water table and has a shallow red tile roof. Above each door, a blind arch is elaborated with colorful tile. Windows on either side of each door are boarded. The upper two stories of these elevations are blind, ornamented by rectangular polychrome tile insets depicting active figures. According to Public Art in St. Louis, the mosaics were designed by Michael Lippmann.
The five-bay sides of these end blocks at the west and south elevations are treated in a relatively plain manner. Each features a door at the outermost bay elaborated in a similar manner to those described above. The projection surrounding the western door is extended out several feet to form its own shed-roofed vestibule. Also, from the school's western elevation to the western end of the property, a low brick wall defines the northern lot line. This wall has a damaged lion-head font in the center. Its brick construction matches the school and is attached to the school.
The northern and eastern elevations were never meant to be seen from a distance; with the school's location in the corner of its relatively small lot, these elevations would have been directly across the alley from residential or other buildings. Both sides currently face vacant lots, allowing a better view of the unornamented secondary elevations. The end bays are blind and terminate in a shallow gable reflecting the roof plan of the end blocks. Large four-over-two sash windows are placed regularly at each of the classrooms at the upper two stories; windows at the raised basement level and some above are boarded. The chimney is placed at the northern end of the east elevation. The northeast corner of the building is cut away on the diagonal, with a large central window lighting the main stair, flanked by boarded windows at the first and second stories and another in the gable end. The basement level actually extends beyond the upper stories almost to the corner of the property, cut away to leave a small triangle of the lot which is open ground.
The interior of the school is without working electricity or plumbing, and many of the openings are boarded. The plan is nearly intact; however, there are signs of physical deterioration and vandalism in every room. Plaster is falling from walls and ceilings; windows are frequently broken and missing; most fixtures are missing; and wood floors are buckling. Such significant spaces as the kindergarten and the grand central stair still convey their original configuration (although the kindergarten windows have been partially blocked), but it would take a great deal of work to bring these spaces to a usable state.
The site is asphalted, defined by sections of the original low iron fence. Originally the fence enclosed the entire lot, with a set of gates built out from brick piers at the southwest corner of the property. Today the piers are missing, as is more than half of the fence. Near the center of the southern lot line, an iron sign with raised letters reads "Carr School." A photograph from the St. Louis Public Schools' 1910 Annual Report indicates the sign was not present at that time. No other image is on file at the St. Louis Public Schools Archives until 1938, when the sign was clearly visible.
Looking northeast (2000)
Looking southeast (2000)
