Posted January 21, 200718 yr Inkaelin asked for it, so today I stopped by downtown Lorain to snap some pics of the former Lorain High School. The building was dedicated in 1916 and consisted of 92 classrooms, a gymnasium, and auditorium. An additional wing was built in 1931 with another gymnasium and stage. An industrial arts annex was built in 1939. A three-unit gymnasium and home economics department was added in 1964, and the cafeteria and a two-story media center were the last addition in 1972. The building comprises an entire city block and has over 160 classrooms. It's been vacant since 2005, and was scheduled for demolition but the cost of asbestos removal was prohibitive. The front door now says Lorain City Schools Distribution Center. LHS ALMA MATER On the shores of old Lake Erie, Where the coal and iron meet, Stands our dear old Lorain High School, Full of joy and mem'ries sweet. And the spirit that we find there Growing up so strong and true, Brings us back to friendships made there. L.H.S. we stand for you. The northeast corner facing Washington Avenue Original columns seen in mrnyc's picture were replaced with this modern concrete and tile 1970's cafeteria addition stuck on the front facade Closeups of the detail work Southeast corner Southern facade facing the parking lot and tennis courts Industrial arts addition from the 1930's with smokestack A little detail peeks through 1960's addition at southwest corner - more of that lovely concrete and blue tile Gymnasium entrance on western side 1970's addition on the northwest corner - I hate those "garage door" looking windows Back to the main building I snapped some pictures of the houses across the street from the school too. Turns out they're better cared for that I would have thought given Lorain's economy. It's January 20th, time to take down the Christmas decor already... Former corner market and candy store, there was a record shop on the side Former beauty salon The senior high rise looms in the background
January 21, 200718 yr THANK YOU!!!! The loss of the building is much less depressing considering all the additions alterations it underwent. The original building is quite fascinating, I wish the columns were still around to see. The surrounding neighborhood looks pretty decent, with a couple really great homes, thanks for including those! So was this Lorain's only middle school, I mean, at that size, you'd expect it to be one unified school. Middletown, Hamilton, Springfield, etc. all have multiple smaller middle schools. Keep bringing us your Lorain pics! ;)
January 21, 200718 yr what a nice surprise -- great job showing my old hs! looks the same, except empty instead of full of cars, bikes and people as i remember it. of course, i get that that feeling everywhere i go when i get to lorain - sigh. needless to say, the little stores nearby were active when the school was. hey buckeye1 you forgot to show the pool on the fourth floor (doesn't every hs have that joke they tell to freshman?). btw if you're wondering for sports unless you played tennis the stadium was across town, so we had to dash over there for football/track, etc. practice, that was kind of a pain. ink - no, i recall reading there was some consolidation, but that was not the only middle school. i'm not sure how that worked out tho, nor whats up today, except that as you know the state is building some new school buildings. maybe buckeye1 knows? despite the mish-mashed additions, certainly this locally historic building could and should be saved and reused somehow. if not a school, the setting certainly does beg for a west tech-like residential conversion (the old section) or at least use a light industrial site --- so something of it can be saved.
January 22, 200718 yr a parking lot what else -- this is ohio! lol-- geez i hope not. i'll ask around and try to find out. sounds like it's just sitting there only because they can't afford asbestos removal or demolition. that's a good thing for now.
January 22, 200718 yr yeow -- its just an old hs -- albeit with several questionable modifications and additions. any particular reason?
January 23, 200718 yr Question: So when this high school was in operation in the 90's, were Admiral King HS and Southview HS also around?
January 23, 200718 yr yes, and so was lorain catholic. call it the rust belt blues. :-( another thing i just thought of that was lost when it was closed: lorain high vs elyria hs was the oldest hs football rivalry in the state.
January 24, 200718 yr From the old basement hallway in Lorain High called "The Yellow Brick Road": According to wikipedia, the Canton McKinley-Massillon rivalry dates back to 1894.
January 24, 200718 yr wow -- great find! looks like a close call as to when they started, but we were told the canton-massillion rivalry wasnt continuous as the lhs-ehs one was. regardless, it's long all over now. :| Okay, so it was probalby the oldest rivarly in Lorain County then. :lol: well, well -- still much older than you'd like to think, eh? you stand corrected :laugh:
January 25, 200718 yr mrnyc- Yesterday I happened to be at the VA Clinic at St Joe's, and saw the Lorain Sports Hall of Fame museum. Their website, www.lorainsportshalloffame.com has all these cool pictures of Lorain High Sports teams from the 1890s to 1950s, and that's where I found the old LHS football team photos.
January 25, 200718 yr ^ thx, that link was duly saved to favorites. so i take they moved all those old pics from the old lhs building to this hall of fame? some cool sports stuff pics:
January 25, 200718 yr You Lorainites might be interested in this, I find it absolutely awesome: http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=47620472&size=o
January 26, 200718 yr You Lorainites might be interested in this, I find it absolutely awesome: http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=47620472&size=o aww cool find -- i made that my new screensaver! the massive hullet on the lake that you can see at the end of broadway there was blocked in my day by mountains of slag/ore. then it was torn down, but the slag mountains remained for a long time. good news is today the view is as it was even before the hullet was built -- now there is a direct view of the lighthouse. it's amazing. i never knew the view of the the lighthouse was lined up at the end of bway like that due to the hullet/slag always being there blocking it off.
January 27, 200718 yr Reminds me of ole MHS -- now Vail Middle School in Middletown--neighborhood and all. although this neighborhood has been better maintained, while Vail looks to be better cared for than this school. I love old schools. They sure don't make them like they use to. Today, most high schools look like big old brick barns. And I hate that Steed Hammond Paul gets most of the school designs in SW Ohio because all the buildings end up looking the same.
January 27, 200718 yr Lorain's new school building project is producing some exceptionally ugly modern brick boxes in its neighborhoods - and the worst part is they all look identical - they took one crappy design for an elementary school and decided to replicate it 15 times no matter what kind of neighborhood it was going to be built in. Garfield Elementary Frank Jacinto Elementary Larkmoor Elementary Washington Elementary Palm Elementary
January 27, 200718 yr Middletown's new elementary schools are being built in the same manner. There are two choices: single floor plan and two story floor plan. The only difference in exteriors on the buildings are brick color and main entrances. Interior finishes and colors may vary by building, but the general idea is that the buildings are all the same, with the same ammenities so all the children have an equal learning environment. The only elementary buildings that don't fit into this pattern are the renovated Amanda Elementary and what will be the new Central Non-Graded Academy in the old Rosedale building. The first two buildings are single story. The remaining four are two story:
January 28, 200718 yr Creekview is the only one that has the signature STEED HAMMOND PAUL entrance. Being a Hamilton based firm, I don't mind the SHP look, but I can see why another community might not want it. Middletown's new elementaries look 10x better than Lorains, they look much more modern. Lorain's look like something from the 70's with those vertical window bays and faux roof thing.
January 28, 200718 yr My cousin's kids have the privilege of attending this barn of an elementary school in Huron County's Western Reserve school district - apparently they like their aluminum roofs out there in the sticks (to me it looks like a low security prison):
January 28, 200718 yr Middletown's new elementaries look 10x better than Lorains, they look much more modern. Lorain's look like something from the 70's with those vertical window bays and faux roof thing. how anti-urban ohio of you. i'll take my ugly new school buildings a more urban two stories than that suburbanish one story layout thank you very much. the real deal is all of those designs suck rotten eggs. they took no thought and they look cheap and ugly. i don't mind that they are the same design as i understand that it promotes the idea of getting an equal education no matter what neighborhood, thats ok. its just that the new designs are outdated looking off the shelf crap.
January 28, 200718 yr Sure, the two story designs are much better (note Middletown has a couple with two story wings), but that doesn't equate to being urban, especially seeing as OSFC mandates they both sprawl on ten acre lots. Using the same designs with modified exteriors, features is very smart in my opinion. The architects draw one (or two) floor plans and each building is adapted from that. It is a way to save taxpayer money without sacrificing quality. Pierce, Buchanan, and Fillmore schools in Hamilton were built this way in 1928, so its nothing new, and nothing negative, in the least.
January 28, 200718 yr It seems there was one fast talking window salesman in Ohio in the 70's. These are prevalent in a lot of older NE OH public school buildings.
January 29, 200718 yr Sure, the two story designs are much better (note Middletown has a couple with two story wings), but that doesn't equate to being urban, especially seeing as OSFC mandates they both sprawl on ten acre lots. Using the same designs with modified exteriors, features is very smart in my opinion. The architects draw one (or two) floor plans and each building is adapted from that. It is a way to save taxpayer money without sacrificing quality. Pierce, Buchanan, and Fillmore schools in Hamilton were built this way in 1928, so its nothing new, and nothing negative, in the least. well the two story buildings do indeed equate with at least an attempt at being urban much more than the suburbanish versions. the osfc may have unfortunately dictated the lot size required, but that is another story. if anything it makes the two story style is an even worse fit for that mega lot size. thats not really my issue, the main point is that the new school designs are all butt ugly. not to mention they look like they all fell off the shelf in the 70's-80's warehouse. nothing smart about'em. as i said above, using the same same design to save money is ok. it's just that replicating the same outdated looking bad architecture all over the place is not. i am not looking for earth shaking here, but at least some modicum of originality. a more flexible attempt at making them look brighter and inviting would have been nice too -- instead of so drab and institutional looking: wpb, fla 2003 seattle,wa Seattle Public Schools developed a set of principles to guide its school-design process. The resulting renovation plans for Garfield High School, designed by BLRB Architects, aim for an attractive, student-centered environment. http://www.djc.com/news/co/11159914.html
January 29, 200718 yr Wow, the way those additons were added are crazy. Makes you wonder what they were thinking back then.
May 4, 200916 yr Goodbye, Lorain High: Open house allows community to view school before demolition Sunday, May 3, 2009 By JEFF GREEN [email protected] LORAIN — More than 1,300 people gathered yesterday at the 98-year-old former Lorain High School building on Washington Avenue and Sixth Street, many to view their alma mater one last time... Post edited 9-4-09 to comply with terms of use URL: http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2009/05/03/news/mj987977.prt © 2009 morningjournal.com, a Journal Register Property
May 5, 200916 yr thx for posting that. all i can say is it's outrageous and makes me sad. even more strange is that every one of my old lorain schools are now closed or torn down. They reminisced about meeting each other there, the building's "yellow brick road" to the library and lunch of pizza and fries with gravy, Harrold-Long's favorite. "It was an every day thing. Everybody loved it. I ate it every day," she said. that's a nice memory for me too. i'll never forget when i first went to bgsu and first got on the lunch line. i saw some gravy and immediately ordered gravy on my fries. all those cafeteria lunchlady staff said, "we got another one from lorain!" it was pretty funny.
July 29, 200915 yr going...going...and gone by december. clik here for photos and the mezmerizing destructo-porn video: http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2009/07/22/news/mj1366182.txt TEARING DOWN THE PAST: Lorain High School demolition under way Published: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 The beginning of the end of Lorain High began yesterday with the demolition of a gym built the year President John F. Kennedy was killed. By December, the entire 200,000-plus-square-foot school, which started in a four-room building where the first diplomas were awarded to three graduates in 1879, will be gone. Steve Fisher, a project manager for demolition company DEM/EX Group, of Manito, Ill., said a Caterpillar excavator with a demolition grapple attached to the end of its arm was chosen to pull down the 13,000-square-foot gym, built in 1963. The demolition of the entire building is expected to take five months. Full story at http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2009/07/22/news/mj1366182.txt
August 9, 200915 yr clik below for more destroyer video... Lorain High School demolition continues Published: Friday, August 7, 2009 LORAIN — A Caterpillar excavator pulls down the roof of the industrial arts wing of the former Lorain High School yesterday. The school is being torn down as part of the Ohio School Facilities Commission project in Lorain. Comments Lois Conley Dora wrote on Aug 7, 2009 8:55 AM: " I have more, and better, photos and video. Too bad you didn't stay long enough to, literally, see the walls come down. You could feel the ground shake across the street. " Sheesh wrote on Aug 7, 2009 11:39 AM: " Hmmm....wonder if the excavator operator is a LHS alum..if so, what he is feeling tearing LHS down? " http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2009/08/07/news/doc4a7b925d32a91925580333.txt
August 20, 200915 yr More demolition pictures at Mark Teleha's website: http://www.locophotogblog.com/
October 4, 200915 yr i took these aug 22nd, 2009 -- i didn't get out, we just drove around the block: nw corner this is the part that is really such a shame to loose a strange sight! ne corner bugly cafeteria addition on the se corner former main front on washington street :|
October 4, 200915 yr As much as I hate demolition, I love pictures of demolition. Thanks for the update!
October 4, 200915 yr ^ haha, me too. they had been sitting on my camera long so long i forgot about'em!!
October 6, 200915 yr Depressing. But yeah, it is interesting to watch demolition, no matter how much you love the building.
November 18, 200915 yr All that's left is the original part of the building. Cafeteria/south addition came down last week. Updated photos at: http://www.locophotogblog.com/?p=418 and http://danielebrady.blogspot.com/
December 12, 200915 yr Dang. Looking through this thread, I can see this demolition was a real loss. This school was beatiful, except that ugly cafeteria add-on. I loved the art deco mixed with the traditional early 1900's school building feel.
December 13, 200915 yr I'd like to thank Buckeye1 for the referrals to my blog. It's greatly appreciated. In response to daytonnation's comment about the school being a loss (I should've copied the comment, sorry): I was fortunate enough to gain access to the inside before the property was turned over to Demex, and before the inside was gated off for the public. While the outside looked great, the ceiling was falling in throughout the school, on ALL of the floors. Word was that there was lead and asbestos throughout. The list goes on. Rehabbing the school, removing the lead and asbestos, and whatever else needed done was apparently quite costly. I have photos that I can post in the future to illustrate.
December 13, 200915 yr They would've had to decontaminate the lead and asbestos before demolition, anyway.
December 13, 200915 yr That would have been ideal, but doesn't asbestos removal take quite some time? And a bit of effort? Once the fence went up, the building started coming down. Someone I spoke with said that some of each was found in the basement and the demo company is supposed to pour cement into it to avoid the removal?
December 13, 200915 yr In a normal demolition project, asbestos and other contaminants must be removed from the building before demo work can commence. It's expensive and time-consuming, but it's not optional. If the contaminants only exist in the basement (highly doubtful) and the contractor is proposing to encase it in concrete, then I suppose that's one way around it, but it's mainly just passing the buck to the next property owner who must then, in addition to cleaning up the site, must now jackhammer away all that new concrete before anything new can be built.
December 13, 200915 yr I'm not positive, but I believe that they can get a pass on asbestos abatement if the structure is unsound for abatement crews to work in safely. If the ceiling was falling in, they may have been able to get around it.
December 14, 200915 yr It is finished... http://www.locophotogblog.com/?p=428 holy cow is that a weird sight. since they left'em up looks it like they going to have some kind of ceremony to knock over the smokestacks, eh?
December 15, 200915 yr Smokestack is supposed to come down soon. Electric was recently turned off. Word is they are taking extra precautions to make sure this goes right. The section of the front with the logo piece wasn't supposed to come down exactly when it did. They are going to "make sure" the stack falls where they want it.
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