Vacant School Building in Depew NY

Depew High School, Depew New York

Date added: December 01, 2024

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New York
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The former Depew High School was originally constructed in 1914 and significantly expanded in 1927, was designed in accordance with state and national regulations of school design that stemmed primarily from concerns for student safety. In response to school fires and scientific theories pertaining to health, bodies like the New York State Department of Education codified regulations for light, ventilation, heating, and fire safety. In 1904, New York became the first state to mandate a review of school plans. It also required a minimum of 30 cubic feet of air exchange per student per minute, and in 1916, it required that school buildings with more than six classrooms include an auditorium. Within the next decade, school architects enclosed open stairwells and circulation spaces to prevent the spread of fire. The former Depew High School still embodies these early twentieth-century school standards.

The school building was the work of architect Edgar E. Joralemon, who developed a signature style of school design in the Upper Midwest and New York State between ca. 1890 and 1920. The New York Department of Education endorsed Joralemon as an exemplary school designer and featured his designs in a 1917 publication about good school design. While many of Joralemon's schools are no longer extant, the Depew High School remains a good example of his distinctive style, which featured a gymnasium and auditorium surrounded by classrooms.

Though settled as early as 1808, the area constituting the village of Depew today did not experience widespread development until the end of the nineteenth century. For much of the nineteenth century, the border between the towns of Lancaster and Cheektowaga was populated largely by German families engaged in farming interests. Unlike villages to the north, which saw early development after the opening of the Erie Canal, it was not until the proliferation of railroads that this area experience the rapid growth associated with Buffalo's Victorian era growth.

The convergence of several rail lines through the area along Transit Road near the border of Lancaster and Cheektowaga led the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad's president, Chauncey Depew, to locate his company's regional workshops and facilities at the junction. Breaking ground in 1892, his decision led to a real estate boom, with several other large companies-including the Union Car Company, the National Car Wheel Works, the Gould Couple Company, and the American Brass Company-constructing factories in the next year. This surge prompted Chauncey to create the Depew Improvement Company, and through this entity, he purchased over 1,000 acres north and south of the New York Central Railroad. In 1893 alone, sixteen houses were erected, over nine miles of sidewalk, and 6,000 feet of sewers were laid out. The village was incorporated the following year and it surged to 1,814 residents in 1895, with over 500 houses constructed and 2,500 employees working in the village's bustling factories.

Throughout this period of growth, the Depew Land Improvement Company hired Olmsted, Olmsted, & Eliot to design a plan for the growing community. The firm undertook planning for Vandergrift, an industrial community outside of Pittsburgh, around the same time as it started on work for Depew. John Charles Olmsted and Charles Eliot led these projects while the company's leader, Frederick Law Olmsted, focused on higher profile projects, such as the Biltmore estate and the World's Columbian Exposition. Though the firm produced comprehensive plans for the village in 1894, only portions of which were actually constructed, including the plan for Veteran's Park and the surrounding streets. By 1904, the park was a "public square" of sorts, mimicking the spoked nature of Niagara Square in downtown Buffalo, and the following year it was gifted to the town by the Depew Improvement Company, along with sites for a church, and school. The former Depew High School was constructed in this square, at the center of the village, in 1914.

The quick growth of the village at the turn of the twentieth century also resulted in dramatic changes in the area's education system. Like most small agricultural communities, education was not central to the way of life in the area that would eventually become Depew. Largely compelled by New York State education laws in 1852 and 1867 which required municipalities to provide educational facilities, the first school in the area was a one-room schoolhouse constructed in 1875. This arrangement satisfied local needs for the next twenty years, until the industrial boom in the mid-1890s prompted rapid residential growth.

In 1894, 75 pupils enrolled for school in Depew, and as a result the district was forced to spread the students out to three other buildings throughout the village. That same year, the village completed a school survey and found that there were 511 school-age children in the district, prompting the construction of two large $10,000 schools to accommodate this explosion in student attendance. In 1905, however, the census reported that the school-age population had increased to 1,948, prompting the construction of another school on Terrace Boulevard adjacent to Veteran's Park. T.W. Harris designed the two-story brick building, which operated through the 1912-1913 school year. A fire destroyed the building the day after commencement in June 1913.

Responding swiftly to the loss, the school board commissioned a new high school to replace the building by the following year. Designed by Edgar E. Joralemon, the new school was reminiscent of many of his other designs, with a U-plan centered on a gymnasium, with a second and third-floor theatre. It was built with brick and stone fireproof construction and was hailed by the State Department of Education as one of the leading secondary schools in the state. When it opened, it was a grammar and high school, and was one of three school buildings in the district. In 1918, the district began a night school and Americanization program in the building. In 1927, when one of the village's other schools was determined unfit by the state school inspectors, the village expanded the high school, hiring architect Frank Spangenberg and contractor Alexander Utecht to design and construct the new southern wings. The renovation more than doubled the school size with the addition of four more classrooms per floor and rear staircases. The pair also designed and constructed a new junior high school for the Depew Union Free School District in 1926, in response to citizens' complaints about overcrowding and subpar conditions in the northeastern section of the village.

The school district undertook its next building campaign in the 1950s post-war "baby boom" era. Between 1940 and 1950, the population of the village increased almost twenty percent, numbering over 7,200 people. In 1952, construction of a new junior-senior high school on Transit Road commenced. The following year, as population numbers climbed, voters approved funds for another high school, which was built on the same Transit Road campus from 1953-1955. With the opening of this new high school, the former Depew High School was converted into an elementary school and later into the Depew Union Free District's administrative offices. The district's younger pupils benefited from subsequent school building initiatives; the Depew Union Free School District constructed the Depew Middle School in 1967 and the Cayuga Heights Elementary School in 1970. Both of these buildings are still in use.

The Depew Union Free District commissioned Edgar E. Joralemon to design the former Depew High School on the site of a previous school that burned down in 1913. Joralemon designed the school in his signature style that embodied Progressive-era theories of sanitation calling for ample light and air circulation. The building opened in 1914 and was expanded in 1927 by architect Frank Spangenberg to accommodate the growing school-age population in Depew. Beyond simply adding onto the building at that time, Spangenberg also altered elements of the original design to conform to new standards of fire safety. Together, the 1914 and 1927 components of the building represent the guidelines and regulations pertaining to school design during this era of nationwide school standardization.

Edgar E. Joralemon's design for the Depew High School reflected common thinking about schools in the 1900-1915 era, when ample light and ventilation topped design criteria. The school featured large windows and generous circulation space. He composed a simplified, balanced neoclassical design with a flat roof and cornice that communicated the civic value of school buildings during this era. The symmetrical plan of his design facilitated legible circulation routes, though he created open corridors that transitioned seamlessly into the gym and auditorium, a practice that would become outdated as fire safety regulations called for enclosed hallways. Additionally, Joralemon's placement of the auditorium on the upper floors was common at the time but would also become obsolete as fire safety eclipsed sanitation as the primary factor driving school design.

Frank Spangenberg's 1927 renovation and addition to the former Depew High School embodied practices of efficient design and fire safety that developed after Joralemon's original 1914 design. Spangenberg expanded the building into a more legible U shape by adding two wings containing rear stairwells, classrooms, and restrooms on each floor. Even as artificial lighting became more common by the mid-1920s, the U-shape configuration of school buildings-a legacy of designs optimizing natural light-was perpetuated as a familiar school form. The addition maintained symmetry and facilitated easier circulation with the extra stairwells.

The clearest examples of how Spangenberg adjusted the existing layout to reflect new fire safety standards are evident on the interior. While openness characterized Joralemon's original design, the architectural firm Kidd & Kidd created a partition to separate the gym from the center hallway in 1921, and Spangenberg further enclosed several areas, including the gymnasium, auditorium, and entrance. These actions reflected the shift in public space towards more contained, distinct areas. In addition to creating defined corridors, Spangenberg expanded the gymnasium and added a stage, proscenium and skylights in the room. As upper floor auditoriums were no longer supported, this gym renovation had the effect of creating a gathering space on the first floor.

Like many schools, the former Depew High School underwent several additional renovations between 1960 and 1991, as the building was used and adapted over subsequent decades. All of the windows in the school were replaced during 1975 and 1980 renovations, a typical alteration made to many schools in the attempt to increase energy efficiency. Additionally, the gymnasium and auditorium skylights were covered from inside, leaving the frame and opening visible but ineffective, and roofed over.

Renovations in the 1960s changed the entrances and the basement. First, in 1961, the basement was reconfigured to create the current kitchen and cafeteria layout. That year, and in 1966, designers removed the original canopy over the entrance and created brick vestibules with tall sidelights, again likely as an attempt to maximize energy efficiency.

In 1975, the northern portion of the third floor was reconfigured to create classroom space in what was originally a study hall and a special purpose room in what was formerly the upper balcony. Joralemon's 1915 design included a large study hall room centered on the wall of the principal facade. A corridor south of the room separated it from the balcony. In 1975, the wall separating the room from the corridor was eliminated and the 1927 brick wall enclosing the balcony was removed and replaced by several partitions. This created an "open teaching area," in what was formerly the study hall, corridor, and part of the balcony. In 1980, the open classroom was divided into two distinct classrooms with temporary dividers and in 1991, they were further divided into four classrooms. The remaining portion of the balcony became a special-purpose room with two storage spaces in the corners that still have stepped flooring from when they were seating areas.

Edgar E. Joralemon

Architect Edgar E. Joralemon was renowned for his school designs by the time the Depew School District contracted him in 1913 to design a replacement for the school building that burned down that year. Since 1900, Joralemon had designed schools in Peekskill, Springville, North Troy, Leroy, Oneonta, North Tonawanda, and Niagara Falls, New York. His work was endorsed by the New York State Department of Education, and several of his schools were featured in a 1917 publication promoting exemplary school design after the 1904 implementation of state regulations.

E.E. Joralemon was born in 1858 in Illinois. In 1867, his family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Joralemon spent the next thirty years. He began working as a draftsman for Leroy S. Buffington in Minneapolis in 1876. Four years later, he began a spurt of freelance draftsman work alongside A.M. Radcliff, Edward P. Bassford, and F.B. Long, who designed the Lumber Exchange Building. Beginning in 1892, he worked for George & Fremont Orff and partnered with the latter in 1894. Together as Orff & Joralemon, they designed several buildings throughout the 1890s, including the George Van Dusen House (1893) in Minneapolis, the Bayfield County Court House (1894) in Washburn, Wisconsin, and a variety of churches and schools built throughout the mid-west."

Joralemon maintained his partnership with Orff until 1897, before beginning his first projects in the Western New York area. In 1898, his firm of Orchard & Joralemon completed the "International Theatre" in Niagara Falls, as well as high school designs in North Tonawanda and in Niagara Falls in 1901. In 1905, the two partnered with A.F. Lansing to design the Roswell P. Flower Memorial Library in Watertown, New York, and by 1907, he had established his own firm. His firm was very successful, not just in the proliferation of school designs completed between 1907 and 1914, but also in opening offices in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and New York City.

Joralemon lived in Western New York for thirty-five years before spending his last three years in Pasadena, California. While in Western New York, Joralemon lived in Niagara Falls, Peekskill, and Buffalo. He died in 1937 in Los Angeles, California and is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo.

Edgar E. Joralemon worked during an era in which school building design was coming into its own and his designs reflect this transitional moment. He developed a distinctive style particularly suited for high schools that also contained elementary grades. This arrangement emerged as the concept of junior high came into being as a way to entice pupils beyond grade school with a more engaging curriculum and it economized space for school districts. These schools contained a variety of rooms-including study halls and recitation rooms in addition to laboratories and commercial rooms-reflecting the wide curriculum.

In addition to this variety of rooms, Joralemon's buildings devoted a significant portion of the building to open public spaces and often featured a central atrium for light and ventilation. Joralemon's work is heavily cited in a 1917 book published by New York State to feature buildings that reflect the 1904 school design regulations. Images include the grounds of Salamanca High School (1909); the corridor, cooking room, and physics laboratory of Drum Hill High School in Peekskill, New York (1909-1910); the corridor and boiler room of Oneonta High School (1907); the chemistry laboratory at Lansingburg High School in Troy, New York (1909); and the assembly room of Olean School No. 10 (1908). The former Depew High School exhibits many of the same qualities as these heralded designs. In addition to these noted designs, Joralemon also designed Dunkirk School No. 7 (1920-21) and Carnegie libraries in Elmira (1916, demolished), Niagara Falls (1904) and North Tonawanda (1903).

In terms of exterior appearance, Joralemon's schools are invariably Neoclassical in style and display a subtle Beaux Arts influence in their siting, composition, and detail. Historic photographs depict a number of his schools as object buildings, situated in the center of open spaces with a long approach, wide sightlines, and a principal facade on each face. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Salamanca, New York, where the town created a public park adjacent to the school grounds.

Joralemon's buildings are elegantly composed of a rusticated base on the ground floor, a monumental order in the upper stories, and either strong flanking or central pavilions on each side. Owing to a preference for classrooms lit by a single wall, the use of blind flanking pavilions became almost standard in school design of this period; however, Joralemon's detailing of these elements was unusually sophisticated. He used quoining, incised blank panels, and stepped reveals to gracefully articulate and enliven an otherwise empty expanse. Joralemon's schools also typically incorporate doorways with carefully crafted pediments or surrounds, as well as crisply detailed entablatures with a deep bracketed cornice. The overall effect of each of the school buildings is quite prepossessing. They are at once both stately and simple, clearly influenced by the theoretical grandeur of the Beaux Arts but also clearly operating within an efficient system of public school design.

Building Description

The former Depew High School is located on the southwest corner of Terrace Boulevard and Marengo Street in the Village of Depew, a suburb to the east of Buffalo, Erie County, New York. Terrace Boulevard is the primary east-west thoroughfare through this neighborhood from which the secondary north-south streets, such as Marengo Street, emanate. Depew High School faces north onto a large public park; east of the park is a local historic post office while to the west is a Catholic church and school complex. Depew High School's lot, on the south side of Terrace Boulevard, extends through the depth of the block to Minden Street behind; the school building is centered on the lot with a deep grassy lawn to the north and paved parking to the south. The area directly to the east of the school is used as a playground while across the street to the north is a large public park. The setting is largely residential with some commercial, social, and religious properties in the vicinity.

Designed by architect Edgar E. Joralemon, the Depew High School was constructed in 1914 in a modest, stripped-down Neoclassical style, with later additions made in 1927 by architect Frank Spangenberg. The original 1914 block features a plan unique to schools designed by Joralemon, who later became the architect of many schools throughout the state of New York. In 1927, Depew High School was expanded eight bays in depth to the south. This addition created space for two more classrooms, a stair, and bathrooms on each floor on both the east and west sides; it also expanded the gymnasium space on the ground floor. The current massing, then, comprises the 1914 three-story, rectangular block at the front and the 1927 three-story rear wings with a single story spanning between them. The 1920s era expansions were executed in manner sensitive to the building, leaving the original Joralemon plan still legible.

Depew High School retains its setting, location, design, materials, workmanship, association, and feeling that define historic integrity. Cosmetic updates have been made to the interior finishes, typical of active, functional schools, but the school building retains its historic plan, room configurations, and a sufficient level of exterior and interior historic features to understand it as an early twentieth-century school. Notably, all of its original wood built-ins remain in a very good state of repair. Like many schools seeking to improve energy efficiency during the energy crisis of the 1970s, the original windows were replaced in 1975 and 1980, but the original windows are well documented in photographs. The building has been in constant use as a school building and then administrative offices until 2012 and is, inside and out, in very good repair.

Depew High School is a symmetrical steel-frame and masonry building constructed of sand-colored brick with grey stone accents. The building rises three stories in height over a raised basement and has a flat roof. It is oriented north-south with the primary elevation facing north onto Terrace Boulevard. At the front (north) end of the building is the original rectangular block dating to 1915. The 1927 wings extend the east and west elevations seamlessly to the south. At the rear of the building, the 1927 single-story gymnasium extension occupies the area between the wings with the remaining original rear elevation visible beyond. The school is eleven bays wide and sixteen bays deep; the wings are three bays wide. Though elegantly composed and proportioned, the school is very modest in appearance and has few architectural embellishments. On the ground floor, a rock-faced stone sill course and a brickwork entablature with stylized triglyphs wrap the building. The second story also features a stone sill course while, in the third story, a stone belt course and parapet wrap the building.

On the front and side elevations, the second and third-story windows are slightly recessed into brick reveals, creating subtle pilasters that frame each bay; at the ground floor, the windows are set into simple masonry openings. None of the original windows remain on the building. Currently, each of the openings contains an aluminum unit with glazing in the bottom half and a blind panel above.

The primary elevation is symmetrically composed of seven central bays with two-bay, projecting, blank pavilions at either end. The seven central bays are almost identical. In the first and second stories, the three middle bays project forward slightly. A stone staircase and main entry door are located in the center bay and a brickwork panel above the second story with shields at either end bears the name of the school. Each of the blind pavilions has framing pilasters in the second and third stories and terminates in a segmentally arched built-up parapet.

The east and west elevations are identical and each elevation is composed of regularly spaced bays. In the penultimate bays at either end the windows correspond to the intermediate landings of an interior stair and a later red brick stair enclosure has been added at the ground floor. The bays dating to the 1927 addition are slightly differentiated from those dating to 1915. They do not feature framing pilasters and neither the ground-floor brick entablature nor the third-story belt course are carried through. In addition, the first and last bays of the 1927 portion feature smaller and narrower windows than the remaining bays.

The rear of the Depew High School faces a large parking lot belonging to the property. Very little of the original 1915 rear elevation is visible as it has since been embedded in the 1927 additions. What remains visible is a solid wall with subtle pier articulations and a small window at each edge of the upper floor. The 1927 wings present a solid, blank wall on their rear faces as well. Their interior corners, however, are cut back and feature a bay of windows on each face. In between the wings is the single-story gymnasium extension; this has a single window in the center. A handicap-accessible ramp communicates with a door in the western corner of the gym. All of the windows on the rear of the building are aluminum with a center division and an infill panel above; they are set into simple masonry openings with stone sills.

The plan of Depew High School consists of classrooms arranged in a U-shape around stacked assembly space at the center. At the ground floor level, one enters into a spacious east-west gallery with hallways at either end and a gymnasium directly across which occupies the full height of the raised basement and ground floor. On the upper floors, classrooms are arranged around a two-story auditorium space and an east-west gallery open to the auditorium seating areas. Vertical circulation is provided by stairs at either end of the east-west hallway as well as in the southeast and southwest corners. Most of the current finishes are modern and comprise gypsum-sheathed walls, vinyl tile floors, and acoustic tile ceilings. Nonetheless, numerous original details remain throughout the school and successfully convey and maintain the sense of an early twentieth-century school building.

The 1927 gymnasium retains a number of original features. At the northern end are wooden bleachers; at the southern end is a built-in stage with wood finishes and trim. A basketball court with a hardwood floor occupies the center volume of the room. The walls are clad in a glazed, ceramic tile for half their height. The remainder of the wall, as well as the ceilings, are of painted plaster.

The center volume of the second and third floors is occupied by a double-height auditorium space. The original raised wooden stage is present at the southern end of the room. Surrounding the stage is the original decorative proscenium featuring two gilt frames in an elaborate bay leaf motif with a deep, strigilated, frieze in between them. The northern end of the room was originally open to the hallway on the second floor while the third floor balcony seating was open to the third-floor hallway. The auditorium was enclosed on both floors in 1975 and the room has been re-purposed into open cubicle space. The original plaster walls remain, though the new wall enclosures are gypsum and the original ceiling is hidden behind a dropped acoustical tile ceiling. Behind the dropped ceiling, which was installed in 1964, the original skylights which once lit the balcony seating are still present.

The circulation for each floor consists of U-shaped hallways. Each of the hallways is at its original width and has its original plaster walls and wood baseboard. A vinyl tile floor has been installed over the original flooring and vinyl base covers up a portion of the existing original wood baseboard. Overhead, a dropped acoustic tile ceiling obscures the original ceiling height beyond.

The school has five principal staircases. The two stair halls at the north end are original to the building while those at the south end date to the 1927 expansion. Each stair hall has a steel stair with decorative steel newel posts and wooden handrails. The walls and ceilings are the original smooth plaster. At the southeastern corner of the gymnasium is a small original wood staircase with decorative newel posts, straight spindles, and the original wood baseboard. The walls and ceiling in this stair hall are the original smooth plaster.

The basement has the gymnasium volume at the center with classrooms arranged around the perimeter and mechanical space along the eastern side. Unfinished spaces at this level have concrete floors and painted masonry walls. The finished spaces have a vinyl tile floor with vinyl baseboard with walls typically sheathed in drywall and painted. Dropped acoustic tile ceilings with inset fluorescent lighting are present throughout.

The main entry at the center of the first floor opens into a large entry vestibule with administrative offices to either side. The vestibule leads into the main east-west hallway with the gymnasium just beyond, occupying the center volume. Classrooms are arranged around the perimeter, accessed by the U-shaped hallway. A typical classroom is thirty-four feet long by twenty-two feet wide with a large bank of three tall windows on the long side. Each of the classrooms has walls sheathed in gypsum with a dropped acoustic tile ceiling and vinyl tile floors. The doors and windows are non-original.

At the center of the second floor is the original auditorium space; the third floor originally contained the balcony seating for the auditorium at its center and overlooked the second floor. The seating has been removed and the auditorium, once open to the hallways, has been enclosed in a more typical manner. Around the perimeter of the plan are the classrooms. As on the first floor, each of the classrooms has gypsum walls with a dropped acoustic tile ceiling. On these floors, the flooring is a mix of carpet or vinyl tile with a vinyl base.

Throughout the building, each of the classrooms retains its original built-in cabinetry with the original finish. Interestingly, the built-in units vary considerably from room to room. Some are a single tall unit with glazed upper cabinets and asymmetrical door and drawers below. Others are longer built-in closet units for coats and have multiple solid wood doors. A ground-floor office retains a whole wall of original built-in bookshelves.

Despite alterations and some changes made to the building over the course of its history, Depew High School retains a significant number of its original interior elements including corridor widths and classroom walls, public assembly spaces together with their original interior finishes, and almost all of the school's original, wood, built-in units. Other important features, such as ceiling heights, auditorium balconies, and skylights are also still present, though currently obscured.