Grade School, Castle Point

I was actually impressed with the Castle Point neighborhood; it has stunning mature trees and overall well-maintained properties.

Unfortunately, the travails of the River Gardens School District is still always present.

This school was a religious school until last year, when it apparently when out of business.

Old Harrison Elementary School, Vinita Park

Now the home of Maranatha Ministries.

Hancock Middle School Gymnasium, Revisited

I was out near Hancock Middle School, so I took some more pictures of the place.

While the rest of the building seems to have been torn down and replaced by two new additions, the original, iconic domed gymnasium seems to have garnered enough pride that it was spared.

Something I did not realize last time was that it has a wooden understructure.

Likewise, this is one of the coolest smokestacks I've ever seen.

Here is the old high school, which was apparently on the grounds of the current school.

Deer Creek School

Much to our chagrin, the school in Deer Creek, Illinois, where my family had enjoyed a pancake breakfast twenty years ago, is no more. In a bizarre act, reminiscent of the destruction of the City Palace of Berlin by the Communists in the 1950's, the sole remainder of the historic building is the front door. Honestly, I wish they had just gone ahead and torn the whole thing down if this is what they were going to do.

Barretts Elementary

Apparently there's been a school at this location since 1895, but the current Barretts Elementary dates from the 1930's. Sitting at Carman and Dougherty Ferry Roads, the school has been a fixture for over a century.

Arlington School

Renovations have commenced and are well under way at the Arlington School on King Dr. Located in the middle of a large group of new houses, it should look great when it is done.The red brick facade, combined with the red terracotta decorative elements makes for a beautiful building.

Pruitt School, Near North Side

As was pointed out recently, some of the Pruitt-Igoe housing projects still exists. Besides the power substation, the Pruitt School, an elegant building of brick and marble, still stands and is in use.The school must have fit in nicely with the well ordered streets and public areas of the housing project.It sits with ball fields on one side, and dense underbrush on the other side.The close proximity to downtown points to the desirability of the site, and raises questions as to why such as valuable site could site empty for so long.

Carr Elementary School

Carr School has been better documented on other websites, but I realized I had never really looked at the building up close.The influence of Italian architecture is clear, with some nice nods to Renaissance models in Florence and other Italian cities.It is in a severe state of disrepair, and at the bare minimum now, it would probably have to be gutted to save the exterior walls. The roof tiles are wonderful, and perhaps could be reused in a new rood.

Carr School Roof Further Collapse

I'm not sure, but the roof of the Carr School, just north of downtown, seems to have deteriorated even more severely since the last time I saw the building.

Hodgen Elementary Demolition Pending

Much of the Gate District, formerly the Compton Hill neighborhood, has been obliterated. But much to my delight, much of it still survives. If the St. Louis Public Schools system has its way, it will lose a critical component of the area that has stood since the late Nineteenth Century. Hodgen School, a simple, but stout Italianate school building that I've heard is the oldest school building left in the city of St. Louis, is slated for demolition in order to provide a parking lot for the new Hodgen School. A parking lot? Are they kidding?!So the Hodgen School might not make it into architectural history books, but its restrained style, with Tuscan pilasters and architrave cut an elegant profile in this corner of the city that so needs a sense of real style.The school's sign shows that the pediment was most likely not originally painted.The circular niche, an interesting oddity, seems to be awaiting the return of the bust that once sat on its plinth.On the facade, cut-stone rosettes accent the red brick walls. The detail might be a little rough after one hundred years, but they are still well-preserved.These windows must bring huge amounts of light into the classrooms. Speaking as someone who went to a high school that resembled a dungeon, I wish I could have attended school at such a light-filled space.The back side of the school, visible from I-44 (how I'm most familiar with the building) is an interesting mix of curved stairwells and what might be the curved back of the library.Below is what presumably is the outside of a staircase.I like this picture of the back of the building; what is the large, semi-circular structure sticking out of the back?Rather conveniently, a window has been left open, exposing the interior of the building to the elements.I include a picture of the new Hodgen Elementary: a boring, bland building that is so typical of the 1990's in American architecture. Where are the Michelangelos, Berninis and Sullivans of the past? I know, they're dead, but do we have to have such antagonism to solid, elegant and timeless architecture?Below, I have included a Sanborn map showing how dense the neighborhood once was, and how the elementary school fit in so perfectly into the fabric of the area.So you don't care about historical architecture? That's fine, but realize that Proposition S, passed by voters in November, specifically mentions only upgrades to public schools. Read the text here. As you can read at the Post-Dispatch website, Hodgen will be torn down in the wave of new repairs made with the money from Prop S. While it does say specifically if the District will use Prop S money to tear down Hodgen, but if they do, I believe they are violating at least the spirit, if not the law, of Prop S, and its purported use of taxpayers' dollars.

Pleasantview School, Washington Township, Illinois

Rural America is not without its abandoned buildings, as can be seen in the abandoned school house near my family's farm in Illinois. Tucked away on back road, it is left to decay in obscurity.See earlier pictures of the school here; little has changed over the last year.What do the owners of this idyllic farm feel about the abandoned school? Indifferent? Annoyed?Some beer connoisseurs apparently have been partying near the school, as evidenced by this empty Bud Light case.

Meramec Highlands Abandoned School

This old school building served southwest Kirkwood for many years before being shuttered many years ago.Unfortunately, I saw a "Future Home of..." sign in the front yard, so I am afraid this little gem's days might be numbered.

Abandoned School

Pleasantview Road, Washington Township and Sprawl

I drove back by Pleasantview Road to check on the status of the buildings I have been documenting for the last year.The abandoned farmstead has weathered the winter, and looks largely the same. I know someday I will drive by, only to see a pile of rubble, or less.The school building hasn't changed either, though the weeds are starting to grow up around the facade again.It makes me sick, but sprawl is coming to Washington, since you know, it's quaint and all and only a ten minute drive into Peoria. Note the brand new street in front of this barn; on the other side of the street is a subdivision of tract attached homes.Across the cornfield, another subdivision is going up. Why are giving up our sustainability for sprawl? We no longer produce enough food to support our population, and the roads needed to go to all of these spread-out houses aren't paid for by the taxes generated by these houses. A crisis is developing, but almost no one cares.