Ogden High School – Ogden UT

Description

Ogden High School is an excellent example of New Deal school building, featuring elegant architecture and all the modern features of the time.  It is still in use today and appears to have been little altered over time.

From the PWA report of 1939:

“It is one of the largest high schools in the State and will care for an enrollment of 2,000 students. The classroom section, which is 4 stories in height, contains 40 classrooms, domestic arts and science rooms, a cafeteria, 69 by 122 feet, physics, chemistry, and biology laboratories, and a library, 60 by 80 feet. The gymnasium section contains a boys’ gymnasium, 2 stories in height and 70 by 100 feet, and a girls’ gymnasium, 40 by 70 feet, and the necessary locker and team rooms. The auditorium wing is 168 by 105 feet and provides the auditorium with a well-equipped stage and a choral room.

The entire structure is fireproof. The construction consists of a concrete frame, reinforced concrete floor and roof slabs, and exterior walls faced with a light-colored brick trimmed with stone.

The project was completed in November 1937 at a construction cost of $1,028,916 and a project cost of $1,077,568.”

From the National Register of Historic Places:

“The Ogden Art Deco Buildings Thematic Group Nomination includes the three most significant Art Deco structures in the city of Ogden and the state of Utah. Consisting of the U. S. Forest Service Building (1933), the Ogden High School (1937), and tHe Ogden/Weber Municipal Building (1939), the nomination is linked by its architecture, architects, and theme of public works programs during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Designed in the Art Deco Style by the architectural firm of Hodgson and McClenahan, these three public buildings create a cohesive trio in design, geography J and chronology; and reflect ·the contemporary desire for “modern,” progressive buildings evident throughout the United States during the 1920s and 1930s. Art Deco was also particularly popular in Public Works Administration (PWA) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects, which were instrumental in introducing the style into Utah.”