W. H. Adamson High School Additions – Dallas TX

Description

Original school erected in 1916.

Under the auspices of the New Deal, the Public Works Administration [PWA) administered the School Building-Aid Program that provided funds for much-needed additions to the Adamson High School building in 1938. This project added wings on the east and west ends of the original building, extending the main hallways which provided a long-awaited art room on the first floor as well as a chemistry lab and choir suite. On the east end were a biology lab, physics lab, woodshop, basement facilities for the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), and a football locker room, so that student athletes no longer had to use the coal bin. A new ROTC armory, shooting range, and band room were also included in the new basement; this is the only shooting range in any Dallas school. Dallas architect Roscoe DeWitt designed the addition and J.J. Fritch served as the general contractor; the total cost of the project was $138,436.

.At each end of the original sections are wings that were added to the school in 1938. While these wings are three stories in height, their front ten feet of depth is only one story in height The materials, articulation, details, and window openings in these wings match that of the 1915 building. The side walls of these 1938 wings are plain and without windows.