Abandoned Elementary School Building in NY

School No. 7, Dunkirk New York

Date added: May 17, 2024

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New York
School

Courtyard looking north to main entrance (1991)

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Designed ca. 1916-19 and built ca. 1920-21, School #7 is an early example of this progressive building type in the Northeast and an important illustration of the evolution of educational theory and building practices during the first quarter of the twentieth century.

The building is a U-shaped plan. The rigid, rectangular plan so popular during the nineteenth century was abandoned for many reasons, all of which are manifested in School #7's progressive U-shaped plan: the sprawling, slightly irregular building allows for the use of multiple emergency exits rather than the single central entrance usually dictated by the rectilinear form; the additional facade space created by the extending wings allows for many more windows and far better natural lighting, spatially segregated wings allows for the more manageable and supposedly more beneficial separation of various age groups of students; and the multi-winged buildings allows for greater variations in shapes and sizes of rooms, particularly those rooms designated for specialty functions.

Directly related to the U-shaped plan is the flat roof on top of School #7. The truss systems needed to support hipped and gable roofs were relatively expensive; most communities could not afford to build schools with elaborate roof lines, particularly when a community might have more than a few district schools to build in a short period of time. While the central school or high school might still be built with a more prestigious, multi-gabled or hipped roof, district and elementary schools, like School #7, tended to be built with economical flat roofs.

Also directly related to the U-shaped plan is the provision of unilateral, natural lighting for all classrooms. Educational reformers of the period called for a single source of natural light, preferably from the east, to illuminate children's desks; the ill effects of glares and back-lighting were of paramount concern to early twentieth-century educators. School #7 is a graphic illustration of this philosophy: all classrooms are lit from either the west or the east, and desks are oriented toward either the north or the south, respectively, to insure that light falls over the left shoulders of the students. Large banks of multiple windows allow for the provision of ample natural light, even on dark or rainy days. This is still evidenced in School #7, where the original window openings survive intact. (New windows were added in 1978 to replace the original double-hung windows.)

School #7 also incorporates virtually all specialty spaces characteristic of early twentieth-century elementary schools. First, School #7 is equipped with a large, multi-purpose room used for gymnasium and auditorium space (with proscenium stage and auxiliary spaces). Some nineteenth-century schools, especially large, central or high schools, did have gymnasium/auditorium spaces for student use as well as occasional community use. Most of the time, however, these auditoriums were located on the top story of the rectangular building; access, therefore, was seldom efficient or safe, due to the extra staircases that had to be used. Furthermore, these spaces could not be used for community purposes without opening up the entire school. The sprawling, irregular forms popular during the early twentieth century allowed for the addition of auditoriums at ground level on virtually any facade. Dangerous staircases were thereby eliminated and emergency evacuation procedures were safe and expedient. Furthermore, extra doorways could be added, so that the public could enter the auditorium without passing through the main body of the school. The multi-purpose room in School #7 is arranged according to these principles; it is attached to the rear (north) of the main block and is served by its own entrances.

Other important specialty spaces found in School #7 include the Kindergarten (a slightly larger classroom with bay windows projecting into the enclosed courtyard), a library (also with bay windows projecting into the courtyard), and manual training rooms for the boys and home economics spaces for the girls.

While most nineteenth-century schools were constructed of fire-proof materials, few incorporated adequate emergency exits or safe circulation patterns. School #7, like many early twentieth century schools, addressed a variety of progressive fire safety precautions. First of all, the sprawling U-shaped plan with multiple exits allowed for orderly emergency evacuations. The rigid, rectilinear plan of nineteenth century schools usually necessitated a single primary entrance, with occasional secondary entrances, none of which was conducive to the orderly dismissal of students during an emergency. School #7 was noted at the time of its construction not only for multiple exits, but for an exit adjacent to every classroom.

Furthermore, most nineteenth century schools were two stories in height, creating the need for staircases. Most of these schools had central staircases which, by the early twentieth century, were widely recognized as fire traps. Early twentieth century two-story schools were often built with several widely spaced staircases, thereby eliminating the hazardous central stair hall. School #7 goes even further in its radical design by eliminating the second story altogether, thereby greatly increasing the orderliness and safety of students during an evacuation. (Fire safety was just one of many reasons for constructing a one-story, rather than a two-story school.)

School #7 was built with a hot air furnace in the basement of the main block of the building. This particular heating system was believed to be the best means of adequately ventilating the building to ensure the healthiest, most sanitary environment. Forced hot air was blown throughout the building and was designed to conform with minimum requirements for circulated air; this was often measured in terms of cubic feet per child per minute and/or hour.

By the 1930s, concern for consistent temperature and humidity became more important than concern for ventilation. Consequently, forced hot air heating systems declined in popularity and hot water/steam heating systems gained widespread approval. Furthermore, furnaces in basements became well-known fire hazards. In order to address both concerns, the basement furnace in School #7 was abandoned and a new boiler room wing was added to the rear of the school in the 1930s. The boiler room survives intact and remains an important reminder of the changing theories and technology in school building traditions.

Characteristic of early twentieth-century elementary schools, School #7 exhibits restrained stylistic decoration. The aesthetics of the building are defined by various colors and textures, such as the contrast between the warm red brick and the austere limestone trim and the contrast between the rough surface of the bricks and the smooth finish of the stone trim. Finely crafted stone details such as brackets, consoles, and coping enhance the otherwise restrained and unornamented building.

Typical of many early twentieth-century schools, School #7 is located on the fringe of the community. First of all, land values in the densely built-up cores of many communities were too high for most school budgets. Secondly, educators advocated locating in the suburbs to avoid the ills of downtown urban cores. Finally, as improvements in transportation enabled migration to the suburbs, schools needed to be built in areas that were experiencing or anticipating rapid growth. Located amidst the 1920s/1930s residential development, School #7 is a graphic illustration of this trend; when planned and built, School #7 was truly on the fringes of Dunkirk; within two decades, the entire area developed, as expected, into a pleasant suburban neighborhood.

School #7 is notable as an extremely early example of the one-story building type in New York State. One-story buildings were also popular because they were cheaper and easier to build (especially where large, inexpensive tracts of land were still available) and they were thought to be less institutional in character, which was an important consideration among educators of the period.

Because one-story schools needed to be built on large tracts of cheap land, one-story schools first gained popularity in the Western U.S.; the form was introduced in California as early as 1910. Noted early twentieth century education reformer Fletcher B. Dresslar cited several exemplary one-story schools in his American Schoolhouses, published in 1910. Shortly thereafter, the popularity of the one-story building type spread eastward to newer, less dense communities where land values were still relatively reasonable. Dunkirk was such a place. According to local school board records, it appears that School #7 was in the planning stages as early as 1912-1916, when Nicholas Englehardt was Superintendent of Schools. Englehardt went on to become one of America's most renowned educational reformers of the twentieth century.

The actual construction of School #7 was delayed because of World War I. When it was completed in 1921, it was an extremely early example of the one-story school building type in the Northeast. Cited by nationally acclaimed educator and reformer, William G. Bruce in his Grade School Buildings, Book II (published in 1925), School #7 in Dunkirk served as a model for the type. Because Bruce singled School #7 out as a model, it had a significant impact on the subsequent development of school building design and practices not only in New York, but also throughout the United States. By the eve of World War II, the one-story school building type was being routinely executed across America.

School #7 was designed by Edgar Eugene Joralemon in 1916-19 and built by local contractor E.J. Baily in 1920-21. Joralemon was born in 1858 in Illinois. It is not known where he trained, but he began his architectural career in Minneapolis in 1880, where he practiced until 1898. During the 1880s he designed residences and commercial blocks and, in 1896, he designed his first known school, the Stanley Hall Kindergarten. During the 1890s he appears to have designed exclusively large-scale public buildings, primarily schools, government facilities, and major banks. In 1898 he relocated to Niagara Falls, where he designed the 1898 Park Theater, the 1903 High School and the 1904 Carnegie Library. In 1912 he moved to Buffalo, where he practiced throughout the 1910s at a greatly reduced level of productivity. School #7 in Dunkirk appears to be the last building he ever designed.

Due to roof leaks and subsequent damage to some sections of the plaster ceilings, the school was abandoned in 1990.

Building Description

School #7, designed ca. 1916-19 and built ca. 1920-21, is located on a 6.3-acre city lot 1.8 miles east of Dunkirk's central business district and the city pier on Lake Erie. The parcel comprises nearly two city blocks, divided by a platted, but never opened, thoroughfare (Margay Street). The parcel is bounded on the north by East Pine Street, on the west by North Serval Street and on the east by North Warsaw Street. The school is located on the north side of Lake Shore Drive East (N.Y.S. Route 5), with its primary facade oriented southward. A large public park is located north of the school (beyond East Pine Street), separating the school property from the shoreline of Lake Erie. This flat, open park provides an appropriate setting for the school in that it complements the athletic fields and emphasis on outdoor recreation as popularized by early twentieth-century educators. Furthermore, the park provides the school with a vista of Lake Erie in the distance to the northwest; together, the park and school form an important component of the scenic and historic St. Lawrence Seaway Trail. The immediate neighborhood consists of small-scale, single-family residences dating primarily from the second quarter of the nineteenth century.

The one-story, U-shaped building is constructed of load-bearing hollow tile walls sheathed with roughly textured, dark red brick. The building is organized around an enclosed central courtyard. The main block of the U (i.e., the recessed, northernmost block of the school), contains the Kindergarten, library, shop and home economics rooms, and administrative spaces, along with the attached multi-purpose auditorium/gymnasium. The arms of the U, oriented on north-south axes, extend southward toward Lake Shore Road, and contain classrooms that are double-loaded along the corridors. A low brick wall runs between the south ends of the classroom wings, creating an enclosed courtyard. The courtyard is entered through an arched portal in the brick wall. The main entrance to the school is reached via the courtyard, while secondary entrances are located on the south facades of the two classroom wings. Emergency doorways are located adjacent to every pair of classrooms along the east and west elevations of the building. The auditorium also has its own set of doorways.

Fenestration throughout the building is generally regular and consists of large rectangular openings containing insulated aluminum sash. (Original windows double-hung wooden sash.) Stylistic decoration of the building is minimal and is limited to simple, yet finely crafted, Tudor-inspired limestone brackets, buttress caps, door and window lintels and cornice and parapet trim. The aesthetics of the building are created by the contrast between the light grey limestone and the dark red brick, while visual and textural variety is achieved by the contrast between the smooth-cut stone and the roughly finished brick.

The multi-purpose auditorium/gymnasium, housed in a large, brick, gable-roofed block, is attached to the rear (north) of the main body of the school, behind the Kindergarten and library. As in the main body of the school, the decoration of the auditorium wing is modest, with ornamentation limited to Flemish-inspired gable ends trimmed with limestone coping. The boiler room, utilitarian in character, is attached to the rear of the auditorium wing and is distinguished by a tall, square brick smokestack. The boiler room was added in the 1930s when the old furnace was removed from the basement. A one-story brick garage is attached to the northwest corner of the main block; dating from the 1950s. Parking facilities and historic athletic fields are located to the northeast of the school.