Do You Know This Building?
Answers: 1.b) Monte Vista; 2.c) 1938; 3.c) an auditorium and gymnasium Located between downtown and a residential section of Monte Vista, the T-shaped brick building sits alone on the southern edge of the school block. The 15,017 square foot multi-purpose building contains an auditorium with a sloped floor and a balcony. At the south end behind the proscenium arch, is a four-foot high, 80-by-50 feet hardwood floor that serves as the stage and gymnasium. Prominent Colorado Springs architect Charles E. Thomas designed the brick building that combines elements from several architectural styles. The building has Mission Style curvilinear parapet walls, a round window with a Spanish Colonial Revival decorative surround, and Romanesque-inspired buttressing. In 1936, the board of the Monte Vista Consolidated School District was faced with a serious situation of providing adequate educational facilities for a constantly increasing enrollment. There was not enough space for students, no indoor sport facilities, no adequate heating plant, and no auditorium. Plans were completed for a new grade school along with another building that would house an auditorium, a gymnasium, and a heating plant. Construction began in1937 after taxpayers of the consolidated school district voted for a $88,000 bond issue and the community took advantage of a Public Works Administration (PWA) grant that provided 45 percent of the construction cost. Often confused with the more prolific Works Progress Administration (WPA), both programs were part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal administration. The PWA provided grants and loans to supplement local funding for the construction and expansion of schools, libraries, colleges, courthouses, town halls and other public buildings. The architectural style of the building, the services of a well-known architect, and the use of a Federal PWA grant was an unusual combination for Monte Vista. Completed in 1938, the auditorium sat between an existing junior high school and the new grade school. The junior high and the grade school were razed in 1993, leaving the auditorium as the only building on the block. The largest auditorium in the San Luis Valley, the building
continues to serve the school district and the community in that
same capacity for which it was built. The Central School Auditorium
and Gymnasium is listed in the National Register of Historic
Places and two State Historical Fund grants have aided in the
building’s preservation. |
