Former Elementary School in Buffalo Now Apartments

Buffalo Public School No. 57, Buffalo New York

Date added: November 09, 2024

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New York
School

Looking southeast from Sears Street toward north and west (front) elevations (2018)

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Located at 243 Sears Street, Buffalo Public School PS 57 was constructed in 1914 as an addition to an older school, no longer extant, to address overcrowding resulting from a growing Polish immigrant population in the neighborhood but also allowed for an opportunity to provide a modern school facility. The building embodies the full realization of standardized school design at the start of the twentieth century, at a time when New York state and federal guidelines regarding educational architecture began influencing school construction across the state. PS 57 represents how a smaller outdated school could be enlarged to incorporate an updated educational program by including specialized spaces for vocational studies then in vogue such as manual training and incorporating functions such as a swimming pool, gymnasium, and auditorium to provide for expanded physical training opportunities for students while also allowing the school to serve a more active role as a community center for the surrounding neighborhood.

Ongoing rapid Polish immigration into the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood during the 1880s through 1910s seems to have been the impetus for the original PS 57 in 1897 (no longer extant) as well as the 1913 addition described here. In his 1895-1896 annual report, the school superintendent stated in regard to the district's school facilities that "the worst condition of things at present is found as usual on the East Side. Two buildings are now in the process of construction and another will soon be begun which will afford a great relief. The first is a building on Sears street, a short distance south of the Polish Market, which will take a considerable number of children from No. 31, on Emslie Street; No. 24, on Fillmore avenue, near Best street, and No. 44, at the corner of Broadway and Person street … Both of these buildings will be completed by the first of April." The next year, during PS 57's second year of operation and the first in which it appeared in the school district's statistics, PS 57 had an average registration of 1,004 students, 554 of which attended on an average day. These students were accommodated in a school building that contained seventeen classrooms, but no recreation facilities nor assembly space.

Approximately ten years later, in 1905-1906, PS 57 had grown to a registration of 1,300 students, of which 742 attended on an average day. The school district's 1908-1909 annual report reports show growing overcrowding, stating that "School No. 57 on Sears street is badly in need of more room. The School Committee has had the matter under consideration for a long time. Something should be done in that locality without further delay." The 1909-1910 annual report reiterates the point, stating that "At PS 40, additional land should be purchased. This is also true of PS 55 and 57, where more room is needed for playground purposes, for additional classrooms and assembly rooms." Each of these schools was located in or near Broadway-Fillmore. The problem finally began to be addressed during the 1910-1911 school year, when the school system reports that it had made a purchase of land "between Sears and Playter Streets for an addition to School No. 57." Design for an expanded facility did not begin immediately, however, and by 1912 the superintendent recommended "the erection of a new building here as soon as possible. The condition of the school is a badly overcrowded one, and the school is scattered around in very undesirable annexes." The student registration that year was 1,537, of which 899 attended on an average day. At the time, it was reported that PS 57 was "located … in the heart of the most thickly populated school district in the city … the school census shows that this district has a population of 6000 children from the age of four to 18 years old."

Finally, in 1912, architect Carl G. Schmill was retained to draw up an addition for PS 57; however, when bid, construction came in well above the expected cost. As a result, the Buffalo Common Council issued a resolution for a redesign and re-bid of the addition in the attempt to save $25,000 from the approximately $150,000 construction cost, questioning whether "swimming pools … and kindred luxuries" should be constructed in schools. However, the council felt that "it would be well to retain the swimming pool feature [at this school] in view of the large and growing Polish population, the understanding that this is to be the last of its line for many years to come." The council also questioned why prices had risen to twice what they had been a few years before for sixteen room schools, suggesting part of the reason was that they had hired an outside architect instead of using the city architect for design of this building. Nonetheless, the council authorized the additional fee for the architect to redesign the addition. No record has been found of what changes were made to the design to lower costs.

By the end of 1913, the addition was under construction. It was reported that "at a cost of about $130,000 the city is erecting this 16-room addition to PS 57. The class room building is to be three stories in height and faces on Sears street. This is to be connected by a corridor with the assembly room building in Playter street, which is to be two stories high. When completed the school will be one of the most modern in the state. It is to be ready for occupancy next September." It was noted that the addition included "assembly room, gymnasium, shower and swimming pool building being erected as part of the addition." This was one of the first swimming pools in an elementary school.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps from 1914 show, in addition to the school, the lot included a small frame building marked as a dwelling along Playter Street, located between the "old" building and the addition, then under construction. This building (no longer extant) was an Engineers' Cottage. Buffalo, like most urban areas of its time, passed a boiler pressure license law that required steam boilers in highly populated areas to be operated by licensed personnel in order to decrease risk of explosions. During the winter months, the boiler needed almost constant attention, so the school district opted to provide cottages for engineers to live on-site. The engineers also doubled as janitorial staff and provided a level of on-site security while also shoveling snow and providing other as-needed duties. As the engineer's wife and children often lived with him in the cottage, they often performed some of the cleaning duties associated with the job. The last engineers' cottage in Buffalo was decommissioned in 1974.

During the 1950s, the school district undertook a concerted effort to replace the oldest remaining schools throughout the city and several that dated from the 1860s through the 1890s were demolished during this decade. Among them was the "old building" at PS 57, which was demolished in 1960, leaving only the 1914 addition. Unlike many other schools, at PS 57 a new building was not constructed to replace the portion that was removed, likely due to decreased enrollment that no longer necessitated such extensive facilities. At the time that the older building was demolished, it is noted that "exterior repairs and construction on the existing building" also occurred. The scope of this work is not known, but this is likely when the south half of the South Hyphen was added and may also have been when the original wood windows were replaced with the current aluminum assemblies.

At the time that the old building was demolished, the 1914 addition (the current PS57 building) was reassigned from being an independent school to being an annex to PS58, which is no longer standing but was located at 309 Sobieski Street. When PS58 shut down in 1961, the addition became an annex to PS 44 (still standing at 1379 Broadway) until 1973, when it was once again assigned its own principal. PS 57 was renamed Broadway Community School in 1995 and Broadway Village Elementary Community School in 1998 before finally closing its doors in 2003. From approximately the early 1990s to the time of the school's closing, the yard south of the school contained a one-story prefabricated metal building housing approximately six classrooms that was linked to the South Hyphen with an enclosed metal corridor. This prefabricated building was removed from the site around 2005 but its concrete block foundation remains. The main building has remained vacant since closing as a school. PS 57 is planned to be rehabilitated into affordable housing beginning in the summer of 2018.

Carl Schmill, Architect

Architect Carl Schmill was born in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany and graduated from architectural college there before being employed by the Krupp Armory Works in Essen. After a few years, he opened an architectural office in Oberhausen, Cologne, in 1877. Three years later, he emigrated to the United States and settled in the fast-growing city of Buffalo. For the next nine years, he was employed in the architectural office of H.H. Little, a firm known for the design of prominent residences along Buffalo's more fashionable streets. The firm also designed several civic buildings during Schmill's tenure there, including an addition to PS 15 (addition constructed 1884, school demolished 1965), PS 46 (constructed 1888, still in use as an Adult Education Center), and the Medical College for Niagara University (formerly at 295 Ellicott Street, demolished.) Late in his tenure there, the firm also received the commission for the 1889 building for the Broadway Market in Broadway-Fillmore (demolished 1950s).

Involvement in these civic commissions likely helped Schmill gain the experience and connections to engage in civic work and the Broadway Market commission may have given him connections in the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood. In 1889, Schmill opened his own office in the Fuch Building on Main Street and later moved to the Prudential (Guaranty) Building. From 1906 to his death in 1914, he worked with partner George C. Gould and the firm was known as Schmill & Gould. From the 1890s onward, he became one of Buffalo's most sought-after architects for the design of churches, convents, rectories, and schools, primarily religious but also some secular. His commissions are primarily found in former German and Polish immigrant neighborhoods. His most prominent church designs are Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church (located one block southwest of PS 57), St. Gerard's Roman Catholic Church (extant), and St. Adalbert Roman Catholic Church (extant), each in Broadway-Fillmore, and the Church of the Assumption (extant) in Black Rock. In addition to the churches themselves, Schmill was often commissioned to design convents, rectories and parochial schools within these and other parish complexes. Schmill's body of public school work is smaller, but in addition to PS 57, Schmill is known to have designed PS 60 in the Riverside neighborhood of Buffalo as well as public schools in Lockport and Niagara Falls.

Of interesting note is a letter that Schmill contributed to the Buffalo Evening News in 1895 that stated that architects should be licensed and receive a certificate, so that everyone who wants to be architect would require a college education and go through an examination "before a board of men who possess the qualifications and knowledge of all branches required to make a well-learned and educated architect." He stated his motive being the elevation of architects to a position of higher respect in society. Carl passed away in his home at 57 East Utica Street on January 13^th, 1914 after a short illness, which makes the PS57 addition one of his last built commissions. In addition to his two sons, he was also survived by his wife and two daughters, Elsie K. and Paula.

Two of Mr. Schmill's children, Karl G. and William W., also became architects. Karl was educated in the Buffalo Public Schools at Masten Park High School and then studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania under Paul Cret, receiving his degree in 1910. Karl became part of his father's practice soon after graduating from architecture school and by 1922 he was leading the firm, then named Karl Schmill and Son. In 1914, after his father's death, William also joined the firm. During World War II, Karl served as chairman of the region's Bomb Shelter Committee. William died in 1952 and Karl continued to practice with a new partner, Casper J. Hoffmeyer, until his death in 1967. Records show that Karl was involved in the region's architectural community throughout his professional life. He served as treasurer for the American Institute of Architects Buffalo and Western New York Chapter in 1923 and 1924, president in 1930 and 1931 and vice president from 1942-1944.

Building Description

Buffalo Public School #57 (PS 57) is located at 243 Sears Street in the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood of Buffalo, Erie County, New York. It sits in the center of a block just south of Broadway, the main east-west street through the neighborhood and a major radial thoroughfare in the city of Buffalo, connecting downtown with the suburbs to the east. A three-story brick former Dom Polski (Polish Home social club) and small commercial buildings fill the north half of the block, whereas small frame homes fill the southern half of the block. The surrounding commercial district along Broadway is made up of a mix of older brick commercial buildings and newer auto-oriented businesses and is anchored by the Broadway Market (the city's last remaining public market) two blocks to the west. The blocks to the south and west are made up of small frame homes interspersed with many vacant lots and anchored by Corpus Christi R.C. Church, historically the social anchor of the neighborhood.

The school property itself is approximately 1.25 acres in size and faces west onto Sears Street and extends through the block to Playter Street. The front elevation of the school is set back from Sears Street by about twenty feet behind a small lawn enclosed by a wrought iron fence. The south half of the property is a large paved yard area, bounded by a chain link fence along Sears Street. Remnants of concrete piers from a former prefabricated classroom structure remains within this yard (too small to count). A paved driveway fills the narrow north end of the property.

Buffalo Public School #57 (PS 57) was constructed in 1914 in the Classical Revival style. The school is made up of a three-story classroom block with full basement aligned north-south on the site and facing Sears Street, connected by a one-story hyphen to a one-story with full basement auditorium block to the east along Playter Street. The building is constructed of a red brick masonry envelope over a steel frame. The building known as PS 57 was originally constructed as an addition to an older school building, constructed in 1897, which stood south of the 1914 building but which was demolished in 1960. A one-story hyphen remains at the south end of the classroom wing that originally connected the 1914 building to the older school.

The classroom block is three stories tall above a raised basement, seven bays long by three bays deep. The base of the wing consists of a limestone water table approximately two feet tall. The raised basement continues for about four feet above the water table and is composed of brick topped by a limestone belt course. Here, as elsewhere throughout the building, the brick is set in running bond. From the first floor up, the building has a tripartite composition. The first floor is flat brick topped by a glazed terra cotta belt course. At the second and third floors, which make up the "shaft" in the tripartite composition, each bay is recessed slightly behind pilasters that align with the plane of the first floor. The pilasters fronting the second and third floor have an unornamented glazed terra cotta base, brick shaft, and ornamented glazed terra cotta capital with frieze and egg-and-dart molding.

Windows fill each bay at the east and west elevations and the center bay at the north and south facades and are aligned from the basement up to the third floor level. Brick spandrel panels between the second and third floor windows at each bay have rowlock brick borders and a diamond brick motif at center. At the top of the third floor level, a simple glazed terra cotta entablature spans the pilasters. Above the entablature, the facade has a brick frieze with rectangular glazed terra cotta accents over the end pilasters and round accents over the intermediate pilasters. Above this element, the original drawings show that a simple cornice was originally present. At some point after 1984, the cornice was removed and replaced with corrugated metal banding. The facade is topped by a shaped brick parapet with glazed terra cotta cap. The classroom wing has a flat built-up roof.

The windows throughout the building were originally wood double-hung assemblies but have been replaced with metal replacement windows in the original openings, likely around 1960. At the basement level, each bay currently contains two double-hung windows with a small infill panel at the top of the opening. Each bay at the first floor and above contains one large window made up of a pair of sliding sash filling the bottom half of the opening and an obscure panel in the top half of the opening. Window sills are typically limestone at the first floor and terra cotta at the upper levels with brick flat arched heads throughout.

The West (front) Elevation faces Sears Street and is distinguished by a heavily ornamented one-story entry pavilion that projects approximately four feet from the front plane of the building. The pavilion fills the center bay of the first floor and is made up of an arched opening surrounded by Indiana limestone. At the face of the pavilion, ashlar limestone pilasters flank the arched opening. The pilaster bases are unornamented. The capitals are understated and are ornamented with egg-and-dart molding and floral carvings. An entablature spans between the two pilasters, capped by a dentil band and triglyphs over each capital. Centered between the pilasters is a copper seal of the City of Buffalo depicting the school's association with the city school district. The pavilion is capped with a copper cornice. The parapet is brick with a concrete cap, though drawings show that it was originally a limestone balustrade.

Within the entry pavilion, the entry itself is set five steps above grade and is set within a carved limestone arch with ancone keystone. The paired entry doors were originally wood with glass infill; however, they have been replaced with hollow metal doors. The wood classical surround with glass sidelights remains, though the side lights have been infilled with wood. The transom was also originally glass, but has been filled with a large metal panel displaying the school's number. The front corners of the projecting pavilion are quoined, transitioning to red brick at the sides of the pavilion to join it to the brick school facade beyond.

The East Elevation of the classroom wing is identical to the west elevation, with a few exceptions: the boiler room and other mechanical spaces abut the facade at basement level at its north end, so this portion of the facade is not visible; spandrel panels between second and third floors are flat brick with no ornamentation; and small rectangular attic windows are punched into the brick entablature above the third floor at three locations. An unornamented square brick chimney extends up the face of this elevation between the second and third bays from the north end, ending approximately ten feet above the roof with a concrete cap. The connecting hyphen between the classroom block and the auditorium block extends from the center bays of the basement and first floor at this elevation.

The North and South Elevations of the classroom wing are nearly identical. Each consists of a tripartite composition similar to the primary facades. At the east and west bays, pilasters consistent in design with those on the primary facades frame the bays at the second and third floors. However, these bays do not contain windows but rather are expressed with recessed blind brick panels framed by expressed brick borders and square terra cotta corner pieces.

At the north elevation, the central bay consists of a pair of doors two steps above grade. Originally these doors were paneled wood and glass with an ornamental transom above, but they have been replaced by hollow metal doors and the transom has been infilled. The opening has an expressed brick frame with stone keystone as well as a brick spandrel panel with rowlock border just above.

At both the north and south elevations, the windows above this center bay are consistent with the levels of stair landings beyond. A set of three windows is present within the opening at each stair landing, as opposed to the two windows typical at the primary elevations. As at the primary elevations, the top half of the openings are infilled with obscure panels whereas at the third floor stair landing this bay contains former clerestory windows which have been completely infilled with obscure panels. The entire bay from the stair landing above the first floor to the clerestory windows at the third floor stair landing is enclosed by an expressed brick surround, capped by a glazed terra cotta keystone above the clerestory.

The South Hyphen to the original school building (now demolished) is one story tall with a flat roof and constructed of brick. Its north half dates to the 1914 construction of the classroom wing, while its south half is of more modern construction, likely added when the adjacent school was torn down in 1960. The north (older) half has a glazed terra cotta parapet cap and double doors exiting to both the east and west that are surrounded by rowlock brick frames with limestone keystones. Originally, these doors were wood and glass paneled assemblies with ornamental transoms but they have been replaced with hollow metal doors and the transom infilled. The south half of the connector has a concrete parapet cap and has two windows and transoms on its south elevation that are currently boarded with plywood. A concrete stair and slab from approximately the 1990s remains adjacent to the south and east sides of this south hyphen that formerly provided access to a prefabricated metal building to the south of the school that housed overflow classrooms during the 1990s and early 2000s but is no longer present.

The auditorium block is one story tall over a raised basement, six bays long and three bays deep, set back from the sidewalk line on Playter Street by about four feet. The base of each elevation is a limestone water table approximately two feet tall. The raised basement extends approximately four feet above this, faced in brick and topped by a beveled limestone belt course. Above this first belt course, the center portion of the elevations (the "shaft" of the tripartite composition) are unornamented brick with openings at some bays, as described for each of the elevations below. A simple terra cotta cornice was originally located just above this, but was removed at an unknown date after 1984 and a corrugated metal band is present in its place, as at the classroom block. A low brick parapet with shaped glazed terra cotta coping is located just above the cornice line and originally capped the composition; however, at a later date a ballasted built-up roof was added over the original hipped roof of the auditorium and a second brick parapet (evident as a slightly darker red brick) was added, which extends above the first and is capped with terra cotta coping tiles. The auditorium roof has two large metal ventilators located at its north end.

The East and West Elevations are identical in design to each other, though a portion of the West Elevation is obscured as it butts directly into the Boiler Room. The center four bays are recessed slightly from the end bays, for the full height of the elevation. The raised basement level has paired openings at each bay that align with the larger windows above. These basement windows were originally double-hung wood assemblies, but some of them are presently infilled with plywood or brick and those that do remain are metal replacements in inconsistent configurations. The tall first floor has large windows at each bay, each of which is framed by a glazed terra cotta sill, expressed brick surround, and glazed terra cotta keystone. A rowlock brick belt course aligns with each of the sills. The first floor windows were originally wood assemblies made up of a large center double-hung sash, smaller flanking double-hung sash, and a pivoting transom above. However, at a later date (likely 1960), the originals were replaced with metal assemblies in which the bottom third of the opening is a pair of sliding sash and the upper two-thirds is a translucent infill panel.

The North and South Elevations are similar to each other. The South Elevation has a series of five window openings at the raised basement but is otherwise entirely unornamented. These five openings contain metal replacement assemblies of inconsistent configuration. The North Elevation contains two window openings at the center portion of the raised basement level and two paired doors at third-points of the facade with window openings above each, but is otherwise unornamented brick. The basement windows are presently boarded from both sides, thus their configuration is unknown. Each of the pairs of doors was originally paneled wood and glass with an ornamental transom above, but both have more recently been replaced with hollow metal doors and their transoms infilled with brick. Each has an expressed brick surround. The windows above each door have glazed terra cotta sills and flat arch brick heads. These windows were originally double-hung wood sash, but are presently boarded so their current configuration and material is unknown.

The Central Connector between the Classroom Wing and the Auditorium Wing is one story tall with basement. The south elevation has two windows at raised basement level, currently boarded, and two windows at the first floor level that were originally double-hung but were replaced with metal assemblies in which the lower half is a sliding sash and the upper half is an obscure panel. At the north elevation, the boiler room is directly adjacent to the connector at the raised basement level and so this portion of the elevation is not exposed to the exterior. Two windows matching those at the south elevation face onto the roof of the boiler room from the first floor. At both elevations, the connector has a flat terra cotta cornice and brick parapet above with flat terra cotta coping. The Boiler Room is an unornamented brick building with limestone water table and terra cotta coping that extends a half-level above grade that fills the land between the Classroom Wing and the Auditorium Wing just north of the Central Connector. One window, formerly double-hung but now a metal assembly with sliding sash, and an infilled garage door remain at its north elevation. The connector and boiler rooms have flat roofs. The boiler room roof originally had a skylight, but it has been roofed over.

The floor plan of the classroom wing is a simple double-loaded corridor that runs north-south at each of three classroom floors and terminates at stairways at each end. At the first floor, a cross-axial corridor leads to the front entry and to the connector that leads to the Auditorium Wing. Similarly, at the basement a cross-axial corridor leads to the connector to the Auditorium Wing.

As built, the basement held two play rooms, a Manual Training room, and mechanical space. The first floor held three general classrooms, a Domestic Science room, Principal's Office, and Teachers Room. The second and third floors each held six classrooms. Toilet rooms for boys and girls were provided at each floor. The building layout is modular with classrooms filling two bays, smaller rooms such as the Principal's Office and toilet rooms filling one bay, and the cross-axial corridor leading to the connector filling one bay.

At the basement level, corridors and former classrooms and offices have concrete or vinyl tile floors, exposed painted brick walls, and flat plaster ceilings with plaster soffits around steel structural beams at the ceiling. Remnants of acoustical drop ceilings remain in incidental locations. A painted beadboard partition with paneled wood doors provides entry from the classroom wing into the connector at the basement level. Classroom doors are paneled wood.

At the first through third floors, corridors and classrooms have carpet (generally over original wood floors) and flat plaster walls. In some rooms, the ceiling is flat plaster and in others an applied acoustical ceiling tile has been applied. Plaster soffits surround the structural steel beams at the ceiling. At classrooms, chalkboards with wood chalk trays and a picture rail above line the front and corridor walls whereas a wood chair rail runs along the window wall aligned with the window sills and at the rear wall. Interior doors are paneled wood with frosted glass lights and wood frames. Each corridor door originally had a glass transom above, which has been infilled. The toilet rooms at all levels have concrete floors, orange glazed brick walls, and wood partitions.

The Teachers Room on the first floor just south of the front entrance contains a double-row of original paneled wood lockers with metal grilles at top and bottom, each with a wood drawer below. Various wood storage cabinets also remain in select classrooms throughout the building.

Throughout the classroom wing, corridors are typically 13 feet 4 inches wide and interior ceilings are 13 feet high. The levels are connected at north and south ends with an open staircase. The stairs have steel structural members, balusters, and newel posts, with a wood banister. The stringers are finished with ornamental metalwork at top and bottom and are prominently stamped "Lackawanna," referring to their creation by the Lackawanna Steel Company, the original owner of what was to become the Bethlehem Steel plant along the Lake Erie shoreline. At the basement level, cast iron radiators are present at the ceiling whereas at the upper floors, more recent fin tube radiators line the window wall. Lighting is mostly by linear fluorescent pendant fixtures with some incandescent "schoolhouse" type fixtures.

The auditorium wing has one story above grade and one at basement level. At the basement level, the southern half is a gymnasium and the northern half is a swimming pool with small adjacent shower and toilet rooms. The gymnasium has a carpeted sprung floor, exposed painted brick walls, and textured acoustical ceiling panels applied to the ceiling, with plaster wrapping the expressed structural beams. The swimming pool room is raised five to six feet above the level of the gymnasium such that it has a very low ceiling. The pool room has a concrete deck surrounding the pool and the walls of the room have a concrete base and are glazed brick interrupted by pairs of glass block windows into the adjacent corridor. A built-in bench lines the north wall of the room. The floor and walls of the pool itself are orange glazed tile, similar to but larger than those on the walls, and recent stainless steel ladders provide entry into the pool at each corner. The ceiling is flat plaster and is open to the plaster-wrapped beams above.

At the first floor, the entire double-height space serves as the auditorium. At its northern end is an elevated stage with paneled wood base and topped by an elaborate plaster cartouche centered above the proscenium. The stage is fronted by a curtain and has ante rooms at either side to its rear, accessed through stair halls at either side, which in turn lead to the basement and to grade. Wood double doors with entablature and infilled transom above lead from the main auditorium space into the stair halls. The auditorium floor is linoleum over the original wood. The walls are plaster, with tripartite pilasters between each window bay at the north and south elevations, ending at an interior cornice line above the window heads. Above the cornice line, two thinner pilasters spring from the top of each lower pilaster, in turn leading to plaster-wrapped beams above with paneled edges, forming the appearance of a coffered ceiling. The field within has received applied ceiling panels, presumably for acoustics. The auditorium wing is heated by cast iron radiators, mounted at the gymnasium ceiling and the walls of the swimming pool and auditorium. Lighting in the gymnasium and auditorium is by fluorescent pendant fixtures and at the pool by ceiling-mounted fluorescent fixtures. At the auditorium, the pendants are hung from each beam intersection in the coffers.