Vacant Former School Building in Vinton VA Closed 2009

Roland E. Cook Elementary School, Vinton Virginia

Date added: November 11, 2024

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Virginia
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Built in 1915 and expanded in 1924, Roland E. Cook Elementary School was an early consolidated school for white students in Roanoke County. The movement to establish consolidated schools began in response to Progressive Era concerns about the quality of life and education in rural areas. Reformers envisioned that one-room schoolhouses would be consolidated into one central location, which would serve as a center of community life. These new consolidated schools would have multiple rooms to allow for the separate instruction of students grouped by class and age. Most Virginia public schools built between 1900 and 1940 are examples of consolidated schools. The design of Roland E. Cook Elementary School is consistent with other consolidated schools built in western Virginia counties between 1910 and 1920. In the summer of 1966, before the next school year, changes were made to modernize the increasingly outmoded school, so to keep pace with the newer and larger consolidated schools of the Cold War era.

Amidst the education reforms of the early twentieth century arose the need for a new school for white students in the Town of Vinton. The existing two-story frame school, constructed in 1891, had a weak foundation and was feared to be unsafe. In February 1915, the Mayor of Vinton called a meeting to discuss the construction of a modern school building. After funding was secured from Roanoke County Schools and the Vinton School League, G.R. Ragan was commissioned as architect and O.M. Dickerson contracted as the builder. Construction began in 1915 and was completed in 1916. The first classes in the new Vinton School began in September 1916.

The Vinton School, which later became Roland E. Cook Elementary, was representative of the design used for consolidated schools between 1910 and 1920. These schools were usually two-story buildings constructed of brick with a double-pile, central-passage plan, which allowed for eight classrooms. Schools of this era departed from the frame I-house design used for the earliest consolidated schools. I-house schools usually contained four classrooms and featured a more domestic design and scale. In addition to its modern plan and construction, the Vinton School was also designed in the popular Classical Revival style, commonly used for civic buildings and schools in the early twentieth century. Its monumental porch and classical detailing served as expressions of authority and culture.

The growth of the school and the curriculum prompted the construction of an addition in 1924. Constructed at the rear of the existing school, the addition doubled the amount of space. Adopting the general plan and materials of the original design, the addition blended seamlessly with the existing school building. The addition also incorporated a key feature of new consolidated schools being constructed in that decade, with the inclusion of a large room that functioned as a combined auditorium, gymnasium, and community center.

The design of consolidated schools had changed significantly after the State Board of Education initiated its School Building Service in 1920. The School Building Service sold plans to counties for a minimal fee, which resulted in the standardization of school designs in Virginia. In the 1920s and 1930s, consolidated schools transitioned from two-story to one-story designs, with the inclusion of specialized spaces to accommodate the more diversified curriculum mandated by the State. Large rooms that served as a combined auditorium, gymnasium, and community center were incorporated into the new consolidated school plans of this era. The community function of these spaces reflects the Progressive Era idea that consolidated schools should serve as the centers for rural life. The inclusion of this multi-purpose room demonstrates how the addition was used to adapt to new trends in consolidated school design. The same year that the addition was completed, the school graduated its first four-year high school class and became Vinton High School.

Roland E. Cook Elementary School

Vinton High School quickly experienced growing pains in the late 1920s. After the first William Byrd High School was built in Vinton in 1933 to accommodate the growth, the former high school became an elementary school. In 1945, it was named in honor of Roland E. Cook, principal of the Vinton School from 1897-1902 and Superintendent of Roanoke County Schools from 1906-1945.

The increase in birthrate after World War II, coupled with the growing number of families in Roanoke County, put a strain on the school system in the mid-twentieth century. Between 1950 and 1955, school enrollment in Roanoke County increased from 8,276 to 10,030 students. The existing schools soon became overcrowded with the surge of new students. To accommodate the projected increases in enrollment, a bond issue was passed to construct new schools and expand existing schools in 1957. Superintendent Herman L. Horn used the funds to lead an extensive school construction program over his ten year tenure. The bonds financed the construction of five new schools and additions to eight other schools. In 1962, another bond issue was approved for the construction of five more elementary schools, including Cave Spring, Masons Cove, Pinkard Court, East Vinton, and East Salem.

Although most of the new and expanded schools were for white students, the bonds did finance two new schools and an addition to an existing school for African-American students. The system of segregation remained intact in schools statewide even after the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education finding the legal doctrine of "separate but equal" to be unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The program of "massive resistance" initiated by U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd of Virginia became part of the state political agenda, as new state laws and policies were put in place to prevent public school desegregation. However, the new schools constructed during the late 1950s and early 1960s would be the last segregated schools built in Roanoke County. Under court order, a plan to integrate Roanoke County Schools-including Roland E. Cook Elementary-was instituted in 1962-1963. Under the plan, two grades a year were desegregated to facilitate a smooth transition, beginning with seventh and eighth grades and vocational classes. Arnold R. Burton, who became superintendent in 1965, saw the integration plan through to its completion in the 1966-1967 school year. The integration of Roanoke County Schools was achieved without major disruption due to the small (about 3 percent) and evenly distributed African American population in Roanoke County. Local opposition to integration was weaker than in eastern and northern Virginia because race relations between blacks and whites were less strained by the comparative paucity of African Americans in western Virginia.

While Roanoke County's school building program was completed in 1962, student population growth would continue to increase over the course of the decade. However, the next major phase of school construction would not occur until the 1970s, after desegregation had been completed. Meanwhile, some of the older County schools were becoming outmoded and needed to be modernized in order to keep pace with the newer schools. In the summer of 1966-prior to the start of the first fully integrated school year-changes were made to Roland E. Cook Elementary School that were intended to modernize the facility. At that time, the existing metal window sashes were installed, although the original window openings were not altered. Dropped acoustical tile ceilings were added in the classrooms and various flooring materials were installed over the original hardwood floors in the classrooms. Other changes included the addition of restrooms for administrative office and clinic use, and the conversion of a classroom to a library. The changes made were minimal and reversible and do not diminish the significance of the building as a consolidated public school, but do reflect Cold War era changes in school design. Similar to the one-room schoolhouses they replaced, pre-World War II consolidated schools like Roland E. Cook Elementary School became increasingly obsolete as county school systems consolidated again and built newer, larger, and more centrally located schools. Roland E. Cook continued in use as an elementary school until 1999. The building was then used as an alternative school for a brief time. After its closure in 2009, the building was mothballed and has been vacant since then.

Building Description

Built in 1915, Roland E. Cook Elementary School reflects the Progressive Era movement to establish consolidated schools to improve quality of life and education in rural areas. Representative of an early phase of consolidated school construction, its design is consistent with other schools built in Virginia counties between 1910 and 1920. The original T-plan, brick Classical Revival-style school is two stories with a raised basement. Designed by architect G.R. Ragan, the school showcases a full-height pedimented entrance portico supported by monumental columns. On its main and upper floor, the central-passage, double-pile plan features classrooms that retain their original configurations and relationships to the central corridor. The ground floor contains two classrooms, three rooms for mechanical equipment, boys and girls restrooms, an office, a kitchen, and a cafeteria. The rear addition, completed in 1924, reflects the transition in the 1920s and 1930s to larger schools, with more classrooms and specialized spaces-such as a gymnasium and auditorium-for expanded curriculums. The 1924 addition created the building's current symmetrical, H-shape footprint. The interior finishes and features throughout the school remain largely intact and are consistent with other schools of this era. The corridors retain their original terrazzo floors and glazed brick wainscoting on the walls. The chalkboards and cloak rooms, so characteristic of classrooms in historic schools, are intact. Located in the heart of the Town of Vinton, the school is surrounded by residences, churches, and businesses. Its prominent siting on a hill overlooking the town achieves a strong visual impact. A concrete walk meanders from the sidewalk to the monumental front entrance. Behind the school is a paved parking area and a small schoolyard.

Roland E. Cook Elementary School stands on a grassy knoll in the Town of Vinton. Originally built to serve white students during Virginia's era of Jim Crow segregation, the school is located in the heart of town, near residences, churches, and businesses. Situated at the center of its 1.05-acre lot, the school faces Poplar Street. The front lawn is bordered by dogwood, poplar, and Bradford pear trees. A concrete walk meanders from the sidewalk to the front entrance. Shorter walks originate from the side entrances. The north entrance is accessed via an alley. A paved parking area and a small, grassy schoolyard contained by a chain link fence are located behind the school. A concrete retaining wall with a pipe railing borders the lot.

Roland E. Cook Elementary School was built ca. 1915, during one of the first phases of consolidated regional school construction in Roanoke County. Its original T-plan design is consistent with other consolidated schools constructed between 1910 and 1920, being two stories-over a raised basement-with a central-passage, double-pile plan. The original school block consists of the western main entrance and a central hall with two classrooms to each side on the main and upper floors. The exterior walls are brick arranged in six-course American bond. The building stands over a raised basement constructed of scored concrete; the basement level of the original block houses two classrooms, three rooms for mechanical equipment, and a restroom. A brick chimney protrudes above the roof parapet on the north side of the school. The school is constructed in a local adaptation of the Classical Revival style, which was popular for governmental, civic, and educational buildings in the early twentieth century. The school's dignified full-height entrance portico is supported by monumental classical columns and topped by a pediment. Dentils adorn the frieze, pediment, and cornice. The frieze contains the name of the school. Other Classical Revival features include the sixteen-light transom and heavy, denticulated entablature above the front door. The arrangement of the fenestration is formal and symmetrical, despite the fact the original sashes were replaced in 1966. It is important to note that the size, shape, and spatial arrangement of the school's original apertures have not been modified, only the window fixtures themselves. The original double-hung wood sashes were rectangular with six to nine panes to each sash.

The rear addition, completed in 1924, doubled the amount of space in the school and created the building's current H-shaped footprint. The number of classrooms on the main floor was increased from four to eight. One of the new rooms was used for administrative purposes. Besides providing classroom space, the addition allowed for a large room that served as a gym and auditorium on the upper floor. The basement level has a kitchen on the north side of the central corridor and a restroom and classroom/office on the corridor's south side, while a cafeteria occupies the rear addition's northeast corner and the southeast corner remains unexcavated. A stair shaft with two staircases was added between the addition and original building. The addition mirrors the original building form, creating a symmetrical H-plan. The exterior walls, foundation, and roof also blend with the original building seamlessly. The Classical Revival style was also incorporated into the design of the addition. The cornice continues along the parapet and the ordered arrangement of the fenestration is maintained. Simple gabled overhangs and multi-light transoms surmount the side elevation doors.

The school retains its historic interior floor plan. The original section of the school reflects trends in consolidated public school construction between 1910 and 1920, with its central-passage, double-pile plan. The eight original classrooms retain their original configurations and their relationships to the central corridor. The 1924 rear addition did not impact the floor plan of the original school. Its design reflects the transition in the 1920s and 1930s to larger schools, with more classrooms and specialized spaces for expanded curriculums. Standardized State plans issued by the State School Board for new schools of this era specified large rooms that would serve as a combined auditorium, gymnasium, and community center. The large multi-purpose room on the second floor of the addition was designed to serve this function. The classrooms and multi-purpose space in the addition retain their original configurations. As the school's student enrollment grew, the basement was also used as functional space, including additional classrooms, a kitchen, and a cafeteria.

The interior finishes and features remain largely intact and are consistent with other schools of this era. The corridors retain their original terrazzo floors and glazed brick wainscoting on the walls. The chalkboards and cloak rooms, so characteristic of classrooms in historic schools, are largely intact. The arched openings to the cloak rooms also remain as significant architectural features. The assembly space retains its original wood floors and plaster finishes, as well as the stage. The proscenium arch of the stage matches the arched openings to the cloak rooms. Most of the historic two-panel interior doors throughout the interior remain in place.

Some modifications were made over time to adapt to the changing needs of the school. The most extensive changes were made in 1966. At that time, the existing metal window sashes were installed, although the original window openings were not altered. Dropped acoustical tile ceilings were installed in the classrooms, but above, the original plaster ceilings still remain. Various flooring materials were installed over the original hardwood floors in the classrooms. Other changes included the addition of restrooms for administrative office and clinic use, and the conversion of a classroom to a library.