Walter H. French Junior High School

Last updated
Walter H. French Junior High School
Walter French Academy 2011-12-10.jpg
Walter French Academy as seen from the corner of Mt. Hope and Cedar
USA Michigan location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location1900 S. Cedar St.,
Lansing, Michigan
Coordinates 42°42′41″N84°32′55″W / 42.7114°N 84.5486°W / 42.7114; -84.5486 Coordinates: 42°42′41″N84°32′55″W / 42.7114°N 84.5486°W / 42.7114; -84.5486
Built1925 (1925)
ArchitectJudson N. Churchill
Architectural styleTudor
NRHP reference No. 14001097 [1]
Added to NRHPDecember 30, 2014

The Walter French Junior High School, formerly known as the Walter French Academy or the Walter French Academy of Business and Technology, is a three-story school building located at the corner of Mount Hope and Cedar in Lansing, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. [1]

Contents

History

In the 1910s and 1920, the booming automobile business expanded Lansing's population, and the schools became overcrowded. Several new subdivisions on the south side of Lansing caused the school overcrowding there to become acute, and in 1924, the Lansing School Board acquired a six-acre lot on which to build a school. The Board hired local architect Judson N. Churchill to design a building. Construction began in late 1924, and the school was completed in time for classes in 1925. It had space for grades seven through nine, and additional space for grades one through six. [2]

In 1950, the school was converted to be completely a junior high, and in 1957 a new wing was added. However, falling enrollment cased the school to be closed in 1981. [2] In 1983, the Eyde company purchased the school building. [3]

In 1996 [4] the building re-opened as a charter school, the Walter French Academy of Business and Technology, which included a middle and high school. [5] About four years later, sometime between 1999 and 2000, it added a K-12 program to become the "...first local public school to offer kindergarten through 12th grade under one roof." [4] In 2004, the school lost ties to its authorizer, Central Michigan University and was ultimately shut down that year due to financial problems. [6] [7] On August 5 2016 the building caught fire; the cause of the fire was unknown. [3]

In January 2018, the families of Louis and George Eyde donated the building to the Capital Area Housing Partnership, a non-profit affordable housing group. The organization plans to redevelop the building for housing. [3]

Description

The Walter H. French Junior High School is a three-story, steel-frame brick building constructed in a Tudor style with a flat roof and large window bays. The exterior features elaborate stone door surrounds and intricate polychromatic brickwork in red, yellow, and brown shades. Another wing projects to the rear; this wing was enlarged with additions in 1957 and in the 1970s. A limestone base rises to the sill level of the first floor windows, and there is a stone belt course between the first and second stories. The main building has two wings, meeting at a right angle with a three-bay angled facade at the intersection. The formal entry is at this intersection, through an elliptical arch. A secondary entrance is at one end of one of the wings. [2]

Related Research Articles

W. R. Myers High School is located in Taber, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1950, it is the town's only public high school. Students at W.R. Myers range from grade 9 to grade 12. Taber's middle school, D.A. Ferguson, shares a Cafeteria and a band room with W.R. Myers. The school has about 480 students and 50 staff members both teachers and others. W.R. Myers has had a large success in Sports and Music, creating a name for itself in Western Canada. The Basketball team and the WR Myers Fighting Rebels Football team has brought much success to the school. The school is widely known for the shooting that took place on April 28, 1999 leaving 1 student dead and a second wounded.

Waterloo High School (New York) Public, coeducational school in Waterloo, New York, United States

Waterloo High School is a public high school located in Waterloo, New York, United States. As of 2016, it has an enrollment of 520 students from grades 9–12. The current principal is Mary Thomas-Madonna and the assistant principal is Tom Mitchell.

East High School (Rochester, New York) Public high school in Rochester, New York, United States

East High School is a public high school serving the sixth through twelfth grade in Rochester, N.Y, and is part of the Rochester City School District, and in partnership with the University of Rochester as the school's Educational Partnership Organization (EPO). The school opened in 1902 on 410 Alexander St, and was designed by noted Rochester architect J. Foster Warner. The school was later moved in 1959 to its current location, 1801 East Main Street. Since 2002, changes have occurred, including the re-addition of a junior high and the splitting of the school into separate academies.

Upper Elementary School (Goffstown, New Hampshire) United States historic place

The Upper Elementary School, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Goffstown High School, is a historic school building located at 12 Reed Street in the center of Goffstown, New Hampshire. The building was constructed in 1925 and served as the town's first purpose-built high school until the opening of the present high school on Wallace Road in 1965. The building, renamed "Upper Elementary School", then served the town's intermediate-grade students until the opening of Mountain View Middle School. The building has since been converted into senior housing and is now known as The Meetinghouse at Goffstown. It was listed on the National Register in 1997.

Philip Livingston Magnet Academy United States historic place

The former Philip Livingston Magnet Academy is located along Northern Boulevard in the West Hill neighborhood of Albany, New York, United States. It is a large brick building predominantly in the Colonial Revival architectural style, with some Art Deco touches inside, erected during the 1930s. Additions were made in the 1960s. In 2014 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Philip Livingston Junior High School, the only purpose-built public school building in the city so recognized.

Wayne State University Buildings United States historic place

The Wayne State University historic district consists of three buildings on 4735-4841 Cass Avenue in Midtown Detroit, Michigan: the Mackenzie House, Hilberry Theatre, and Old Main, all on the campus of Wayne State University. The buildings were designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1957 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Crawfordsville High School United States historic place

Crawfordsville High School is a former public high school erected in 1910 on East Jefferson Street in Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Indiana, and was a part of the Crawfordsville Community Schools. The building was expanded in 1914, 1921, and 1941 to provide additional classrooms, an auditorium, and a gymnasium. In 2000 the old school building was converted to a multi-use facility of offices, residential housing, and a fitness center. The former high school building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. A new Crawfordsville High School facility opened at One Athenian Drive in 1993.

Horace Belden School and Central Grammar School United States historic place

The Horace Belden School and Central Grammar School are a pair of architecturally distinguished Late Gothic Revival occupying a single campus at 933 Hopmeadow Street and 29 Massaco Street in Simsbury, Connecticut. The Belden School was built in 1907 as the first Simsbury High School, and now serves as Simsbury Town Hall. The Central Grammar School, built in 1913, is now called the Central School. The buildings were listed as a pair on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993 for their architecture and their role in the town's educational system.

St. Marys Catholic Church (Guttenberg, Iowa) United States historic place

St. Mary's Catholic Church is a parish of the Archdiocese of Dubuque. The church is located in Guttenberg, Iowa, United States. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as St. Mary's Catholic Church Historic District. In addition to the church, the historic district includes the parish rectory, convent, and school building.

Globe High School Public high school in Globe, Arizona, United States

Globe High School is a high school in Globe, Arizona. It is the only high school in the Globe Unified School District, which also operates High Desert Middle School and Copper Rim Elementary School.

Bala Cynwyd Junior High School Complex United States historic place

Bala Cynwyd Junior High School Complex, is a historic school complex in Bala Cynwyd, Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The complex includes the Bala Cynwyd Middle School, the Cynwyd Elementary School, as well as the former Lower Merion Academy. The elementary school and middle schools are part of the Lower Merion School District. The Lower Merion Academy / Lower Merion Benevolent School building was built in 1812, and is a ​3 1⁄2-story, five-bay, stuccoed stone building with cupola in the Federal style. It was renovated in 1938, in the Colonial Revival style. The Cynwyd Elementary School building was built in 1914, with a rear addition built in 1920. It is a ​2 1⁄2-story, Classical Revival style building that features white terra cotta trim and a central entrance with Ionic order columns. The Bala Cynwyd Middle School building was built in 1938, and is a long, flat, two-story brick building in the modern style. A classroom wing was added in 1963. The buildings were renovated and some additions built in 1999.

Fremont High School (Fremont, Michigan) United States historic place

The former Fremont High School is a former school building located at 204 East Main Street in Fremont, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.

Randleman Graded School United States historic place

Randleman Graded School, also known as Randleman High School and Shaw Furniture Industries Showroom, is a historic school building located at Randleman, Randolph County, North Carolina. It was built in 1906, and is a two-story brick building, five-bays wide and three bays deep, with a low-hipped roof and flanking hip-roofed two-bay wings added in 1926. The building is Romanesque Revival influenced and features a projecting entrance pavilion with a massive Richardsonian Romanesque-influenced arch. In 1937, an extension to the east wing was added. The building housed a school until 1960, then a furniture showroom until 2000.

Plummer-Motz School United States historic place

The Plummer-Motz School, formerly Falmouth High School, is a former school building at 192 Middle Road in Falmouth, Maine. Built in the 1930s, it was the town's first high school, serving as first a high school, and later as a junior high school and elementary school, until its closure in 2011. The building has been converted to residential use.

Franklin Junior High School (Brainerd, Minnesota) United States historic place

Franklin Junior High School is a historic former school building in Brainerd, Minnesota, United States. The core sections were built in 1932 and extensions were added on in 1954 and 1962. The school closed in 2005. In 2008 the building reopened as the Franklin Arts Center, which leases residential, work, and commercial space to local artists.

Woonsocket Senior High and Junior High Schools (1914 building) United States historic place

The Woonsocket Senior High and Junior High Schools is an historic school complex at 357 Park Place in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Built in 1914 and enlarged several times, it served as the city's high school until 1967, and as the Woonsocket Middle School until its closure in 2009. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

Portland School Apartments United States historic place

Portland High School is a former public high school located at 306 Brush Street in Portland, Michigan. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. The building has been converted into apartments, known as the Portland School Apartments.

Old Hancock Central High School United States historic place

The Old Hancock Central High School is a former public school building located at 417 Quincy Street in Hancock, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.

University Junior High School Historic structure in Austin, Texas

University Junior High School is a historic former secondary school on the University of Texas at Austin campus in Austin, Texas. Opened in 1933 as a joint project between the university and the Austin Independent School District, the school served both as a public junior high school and as a laboratory school for the university's Department of Education until 1967, when the school was closed and the facility turned over to UT. Today, the building houses the university's School of Social Work and its Child Care Center. The school was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

Old Durand High School United States historic place

The old Durand High School is a former school building located at 100 West Sycamore Street in Durand, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. It has been refurbished into senior living apartments, known as the Sycamore House.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 Ryan Schumaker (July 17, 2014), National Register. of Historic Places Registration Form: French Walter H. Junior High School (PDF)
  3. 1 2 3 RJ Wolcott (January 9, 2018). "Former Walter French school building to be redeveloped". Lansing State Journal.
  4. 1 2 Lee, Amy (February 5, 1999). "Catholic Schools Take Time to Celebrate". Lansing State Journal . p. B3.
  5. ↑ Mayes, Mark (July 11, 1999). "Walter French Adds Offerings to Teach K-12". Lansing State Journal . p. B1.
  6. ↑ Ross, Jeremy (June 11, 2004). "Walter French Academy Closer to Closing". WILX. Retrieved January 23, 2016.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  7. ↑ Coulson, Andrew J. (August 4, 2004). "The Real Lessons of Walter French Academy". Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Retrieved January 23, 2016.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.