Kenwood School – Kearney NE

Description

A Public Work Administration (PWA) grant was given to the Kearney School Board for the erection of Kenwood Elementary School, announced in late June, 1934. Architects McClure and Walker submitted plans and specifications to the PWA engineer’s office in Omaha for approval, for which the engineer was allotted thirty days, and then the request for bids had to be published for thirty additional days before a bidder could be hired. The School Board was looking at a September 1st date for selection of bidders if all went according to plan. Still, the architects were convinced that the Kenwood School could be enclosed by November 1st so that work on the interior could progress during the winter months. Final plans were hand delivered to John Latenser, the PWA engineer in Omaha, in the first week of August, 1934. The school board received word of his approval of their plans a mere two weeks later, as he was as anxious to see work begin as they were.

Bids were requested, which generated a great deal of interest from builders throughout the state. The bids were scheduled to be opened on Wednesday, September 12, 1934, at 2:00 p.m. at the Senior High School. PWA officials would supervise the awarding of contracts. Walter Knutzen and Company of Kearney were granted the general contract, Art Hilberg of Kearney was given the plumbing contract, and Bossen Electric of Acadia would provide the electrical work. All of the bids came in below estimates. Work was planned to commence as soon as possible, only awaiting the approval of John Latenser. The sale of $42,000 in bonds had been successful, and together with the $18,000 federal grant, would yield a $60,000.00 building. Since the bids were below estimates, the school board felt confident they could include some of the costlier adornments of the building that they feared would have to be sacrificed, such as stone coping, tile wainscoting in the halls, and copper flashing.

On September 25, 1934, the first shovel of dirt was lifted by members of the P.T.A., which had been especially active in seeking approval for a new school. A special ceremony was held to commemorate the occasion. By the end of the first week in October, excavation had been completed and the concrete foundation was being poured. The foundation was required to be especially thick to support the concrete sections of the walls and roof. By mid-October, the foundation was completed and workers were beginning to put up walls.

Mid-November found the walls growing past the second floor level, and the second floor’s concrete flooring being poured. Desperate to enclose the building before the winter weather closed in, the workers planned to temporarily roof the building, heat the space, and pour the concrete roof regardless of exterior temperatures. However, a snowstorm and cold weather at the end of November caused a cessation of work for a time. It was hoped the weather would improve in order to allow the laying of the roof, however one flurry followed another. Forms that had been prepared for the concrete had filled with snow. Heaters placed throughout caused much of the first snowfall to melt, but a second flurry filled them up again, and the cold snap prevented the stoves from making any further progress. After two anxious weeks of waiting for better weather which would allow for the completion of the roof, and thus ensuring work for the winter months, the weather broke and the roof was completed. The Kenwood School was the first building in Kearney to have a reinforced concrete roof.

With the completion of the roof, interior work could continue through the winter. By March, however, the building was so thoroughly damp that the plaster walls would not set, and further work would either have to halt until the summer sun could warm the building, or the new furnace could be installed and put into operation. The school board chose to install the furnace and proceed with work.

In April, the school board received a gift of a Silverdale stone mantle for the kindergarten room at Kenwood from Mr. Francis G. Keen, an early Kearney pioneer then living in California. Keen sent a check to defray the cost of the mantle, which was engraved with the caption “This Mantel is the Gift of F. G. Keen to the Children of this School.” Keen was a generous benefactor of the community, having given funds for the town clock, the original Third Ward Park, the Francis G. Keens Home for the Aged, and donations toward the Good Samaritan Hospital and Fort Kearney Hotel.

By the end of April, the school was largely complete, awaiting only finishing touches such as the installation of lockers. The building was designed and built for the children who would use it. Doors were shortened and lightened, ceilings reduced in height, and efforts made to eliminate an institutional feel. In order to encourage sanitation and durability, terrazzo, glazed brick and tile were used extensively.

In June, the Chamber of Commerce invited its members to tour the new Kenwood School and join them for their last meeting of the year. Nearly one hundred Kearney citizens accepted the invitation. After a luncheon, architect Hugh McClure spoke to the group about the project, and then took the attendees on a tour of the building. McClure stated,

“No one man, nor one dozen men, can properly assume credit for this accomplishment of a community enterprise…it was done because the community recognized the need for it, both as a school building and as a means for furnishing employment to idle men I believe that you will be convinced, after a thorough inspection of the building, that this is a worthy example of ‘work relief.’ I hope that you will judge It as an elementary school building, something of which Kearney can be reasonably proud.”