I make some of my most interesting discoveries by accident, and the topic of this article came by pure serendipity, arriving while I was looking for something else. In the past, I’ve written about the sad fortunes of the beautiful palaces of learning, the schools designed by William Ittner that still dot the neighborhoods of St. Louis. Some of those schools are still open, some are closed, some have been renovated, and a few, sadly, have been demolished. But my late-night discovery of a 1988 Landmarks Association of St. Louis document that had been digitized and posted online proved revelatory: There was a whole generation of beautiful and now increasingly forgotten school buildings in this city before William Ittner graced us with his creations.
The oldest, the Lyon School, is safe for perpetuity, sitting in the middle of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, which understands the critical importance of this small but richly historic building. But as I scrolled through the lengthy report, I made a mental note of other Neoclassical and Romanesque Revival creations by architects such as August Kirchner, all of them dating well before the reign of Ittner’s Tudor Revival creations. My unofficial tally at the end of the report: We have lost many buildings that could easily have been adapted to new uses, and many more still sit in limbo, hoping to be saved. Below is a sampling of the most distinctive schools, whether saved, lost, or endangered.
Courtesy of Landmarks Association
Carr Lane School
Carr Lane School
Built in 1870 and named after the first mayor of St. Louis, the Carr Lane School was one of the first education buildings constructed in the city. Like many of the earliest school buildings here, its architect is unknown, but Carr was surely designed by the same hand that drew up plans for the nearly identical Carondelet School, built in 1871. While neither was designed by George I. Barnett, one can see the influence of the Neoclassical in the dentillated cornice and temple pediment roofline. In 1988, Carr Lane was already abandoned and showing signs of dilapidation, but its proud durability still shone through. Like the nearby and callously demolished St. Bridget of Erin Roman Catholic Church, it was a relic of a richly historic Irish American neighborhood, whose residential and commercial legacy had already been destroyed by the building of Pruitt-Igoe and other urban renewal projects. At the time of the survey, the school was marked for residential redevelopment, but a quick scan of the neighborhood today reveals that it was instead demolished. And it was demolished not for a new building that would help the community, but for a vacant lot that still lies undeveloped 30 years later.
Courtesy of Landmarks Association of St. Louis
Washington School, renamed Euclid School
Washington (Euclid) School
Originally named after George Washington then renamed by its address at 1131 Euclid Avenue, this 1890 school still stands. One look, and you can see how the natural evolution of architecture in St. Louis was reflected in public schools. First, the architect, August Kirchner, was German American. He chose the Romanesque Revival, which of course was popularized by Henry Hobson Richardson but was equally beloved among German architects who saw it as a “pure” Teutonic style. In many of the German breweries in St. Louis and around America, German-American beer barons used the style in what we call the Rundbogenstil, using the heavy round Roman arches typical of the Romanesque Revival. Washington School is no different: Massive, architectonic stone masonry blocks frame the front portal, and the two flanking windows are reminiscent of a Romanesque church or a Roman triumphal arch. (See the Cupples House on the campus of Saint Louis University for comparison.) I worry about this school and its stylistic counterparts, such as Froebel School in Gravois Park, also designed by Kirchner. They are beautiful, in-the-community schools, but they are aging. Will they be discarded in the future due to their “obsolescence?”
Courtesy of Landmarks Association of St. Louis
Grant School
Grant School
A Kirchner-designed school on Pennsylvania Avenue that made the transition from school to new life is Grant School, in Tower Grove East. Already served by Ittner’s beautiful Shenandoah Elementary, the neighborhood no longer needed the smaller 1893 building. Converted into apartments, the building now fits into the community, which needs such architectural landmarks but not as schools. There’s far greater need for living spaces, which is why corner stores are also being converted into residences. There’s just one thing I wish had been done better: the old schoolyard-turned-parking lot left stumps of lots along neighboring Minnesota Avenue, and they have proven difficult to develop.
Photo by Chris Naffziger
Hodgen School
Hodgen School
The last school raises an issue on which I heartily disagree with the decision of the St. Louis Public Schools’ appointed board. While much of the City of St. Louis is protected from the demolition of historic buildings, the school district is not covered by those restrictions. As an educator myself (though in secondary education, not primary), I understand how often those outside of our field fail to understand the challenges SLPS faces. But the demolition of Hodgen, designed in 1884 by Otto Wilhelmi, was a grave mistake. A block away from the Lafayette Square historic district, it would have been easy for a private developer to remediate any lead or asbestos in the school while converting the building into condominiums or apartments and turning a neat profit. Let’s hope the elected school board’s impending return to power will circumvent these unfortunate decisions in the future.
