Kearney High School Addition (demolished) – Kearney NE

Description

In June 1934, the PWA presented a grant to the Kearney School Board for a $7,000.00 addition to the existing high school. Architect John P. Helleberg was hired to prepare specifications for the project, which would include rearranging the building to provide additional classroom space and a more convenient plan on the second floor. One valuable change to the high school was a new chemistry laboratory that could accommodate thirty students at one time. The existing large assembly hall was repurposed as a library and study hall. New bathrooms and lockers were also provided. The project cost approximately $24,000.00, with $7,000.00 of the total a federal grant from the PWA.

Although final approval of plans had not been given by the PWA, the PWA did allow the Kearney School Board to hire workers to begin preliminary work on the high school on a “forced account” basis, or rather as day laborers. This allowed for employment to commence immediately and the project to get underway before school commenced. They were able to work on small projects such as repair of steps into the building, patching walls and repairing window sashes. As work progressed, the school board was forced to start school a week later than usual in order to finish preliminary repairs and clean up the construction mess. School began on September 10th.

On October 8, 1934, the contracts for the work were awarded. J. E. Kaufman of Kearney was given the general contract. Joe Kienlen, also of Kearney, was given the plumbing contract. Crawford Electric of North Platte was granted the contract for the electrical work. The total cost was bid at $18,815.89, which came very close to the amount of funds that the school board had left for the project, $5000 having already been spent on general repairs made before school started. The project was scaled back slightly in order to come in on budget. The plans for the first floor remodel, with the exception of the science laboratory, were scrapped, saving approximately $2000.

By mid-November, FERA workers were busy removing seats and scenery from the auditorium, which would become the new library. An office for the principal was being built, as well as a vault for school records for the superintendent’s office. The vault is a two story, fireproof room accessed through a steel door from the superintendent’s office. A steel spiral stair was installed to allow access to the upper level of the room. Work continued throughout the school year, displacing students to the Junior High School Building when necessary.

The second floor library and classrooms were completed by the end of February 1935. The library’s new color scheme was redone in buff and maroon with a new linoleum tiled floor in these colors. The woodwork was painted maroon. The four new classrooms were put into use in February, and work on the first floor chemistry laboratory continued through the next month.

The remodeling project was completed in April 1935. The project yielded twenty-five percent more classroom space, a modern library, a new chemistry lab, four new bathrooms, the fireproof vault, nearly one hundred new lockers, a new teachers’ lounge, and a new fire stair. Instead of the auditorium going unused much of the time, the space was repurposed to create the library and a more consistent use.

At the time of the New Deal improvements, the school was known as the Longfellow High School. This building served as the local high school until the current building was constructed in the 1960s. This building was razed in 1969.