Property Record
509 LAWE ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Park School |
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| Other Name: | Park School |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 16494 |
| Location (Address): | 509 LAWE ST |
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| County: | Outagamie |
| City: | Kaukauna |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
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| Year Built: | 1897 |
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| Additions: | 1958 |
| Survey Date: | 1993 |
| Historic Use: | school – elem/middle/jr high/high |
| Architectural Style: | Romanesque Revival |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Orff and Joralemon |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' (Kaukauna Historic Properties) exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation-Public History. "A LARGE HIP ROOF WITH A CHIMNEY AND SEVERAL PROJECTING DORMERS CROWN THE RED BRICK PARK SCHOOL. FACING LAWE PARK TO THE EAST, THE RECTANGULAR BUILDING IS THREE STORIES HIGH WITH A RAISED BASEMENT AND IS CHARACTERIZED BY ITS SYMMETRICAL COMPOSITION. STONE LINTELS TOP THE MULTI-PANED RECTANGULAR WINDOWS. ONCE SERVING AS THE MAIN ENTRANCEWAY, A CENTRAL TOWER IS NOW ONLY A PORTION OF THE SIZE THAT IT WAS INTENDED TO BE BECAUSE PLANS TO BUILD A LARGE BELFRY WITH FINIAL OVER THIS TOWER WAS NEVER REALIZED. ACCESS INTO THE BUILDING IS NOW VIA A NEW ONE STORY BRICK AND CONCRETE ADDITION TO THE NORTH AND ANOTHER ENTRANCE TO THE SOUTH. ALTHOUGH THERE HAVE BEEN SOME CHANGES MADE TO THE BUILDING, INCLUDING ALTERATIONS TO THE NORTH AND SOUTH FACADE FENESTRATION, THE BUILDING STILL RETAINS ENOUGH INTEGRITY TO CONVEY ITS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS." Walking Tour Through Old Kaukauna: Two Self-Guided Historic Tours Kaukauna, Wisconsin, City of Kaukauna, 1983. HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT AS THE NORTH SIDE SCHOOL FOR NEARLY A CENTURY, AND AS THE LONG-TIME SITE OF THE CITY'S CENTRALIZED HIGH SCHOOL, PARK SCHOOL REFLECTS THE GROWTH AND MATURITY OF THE KAUKAUNA PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM. ALTHOUGH THE HIGH SCHOOL WAS ORGANIZED AS EARLY AS 1889, CLASSES WERE HELD IN A SMALL "RED SCHHOL HOUSE" (NOW DEMOLISHED) UNTIL 1897 WHEN THE CITY CONSTRUCTED THE NEW PARK SCHOOL AND MADE IT LARGE ANOUGH TO ACCOMODATE BOTH A NORTH SIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND A HIGH SCHOOL TO SERVE THE ENTIRE CITY. PARK SCHOOL, WITH ITS IMPOSING 1890S FACADE, ADVERTISES THE STONE AND BRICKYARD INDUSTRIES WHICH FLOURISHED IN KAUKAUNA IN THE 1890S. IT IS THE SPIRITUAL SUCCESSOR OF ONE OF KAUKAUNA'S FIRST PUBLIC BUILDINGS, THE 1841 NORTH SIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL/TOWN HALL AND REPRESENTS AN ENDURING SYMBOL OF THE LATE 1800S BOOM WHICH CREATED THE CITY OF KAUKAUNA. THE PARK SCHOO IS NA EDURING SYMBOL OF THE CITY'S ATTEMPT TO PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM FOR THE CITY'S YOUTH. "PARK SCHOOL WAS BUILT IN 1897. BOTH PARK AND NICOLET SCHOOLS ARE TWIN REMINDERS OF KAUKAUNA'S COMING TO MATURITY AND THE UNION OF THE NORTH SIDE AND THE SOUTH SIDE UNDER ONE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. IN 1889 THE PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AND CURRICULUM WERE COMPLETELY OVERHAULED AS PART OF AN UPDATING OF CITY BOUNDARIES AND SERVICES. A NEW NORTH SIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WAS AUTHORIZED AS A COMPANION FOR THE SOUTH SIDE NICOLET SCHOOL, BUT IT BURNED IN 1896. SINCE THE NORTH SIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HAD TO BE REPLACED, PARK SCHOOL WAS BUILT ON A SCALE MAGNIFICENT ENOUGH TO ACCOMODATE THE INFANT HIGH SCHOOL AS WELL. FROM 1897-1923 PARK SCHOOL WAS THE NORTH SIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND THE ALL-CITY HIGH SCHOOL, A SPECIAL SOURCE OF PRIDE TO NORTH SIDE RESIDENTS. WHEN A NEW HIGH SCHOOL WAS BUILT ON NEUTRAL TERRITORY ON THE ISLAND, ENDING NORTH-SOUCE GRUMBLING IN 1923, PARK SCHOOL CONTINUED AS THE NORTH SIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, AND WAS REMODELED INTERNALLY RATHER THAN RAZED IN 1958, WITH AN ADDITION BUILT TO UPDATE ITS USEABILITY." Walking Tour Through Old Kaukauna: Two Self-Guided Historic Tours Kaukauna, Wisconsin, City of Kaukauna, 1983. Originally built at a cost of $28,000. Resurveyed in 2007, appearance unchanged. |
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| Bibliographic References: | BAMBERY, JAMES, EDITOR, ET.AL., 175TH JUBILEE HISTORY COMMITTEE, KAUKAUNA 175TH JUBILEE ALBUM, 1965, KAUKAUNA, WISCONSIN, P. 29, P. 31. KAUKAUNA TIMES, OCTOBER 1, 1897. LION OF THE FOX RIVER VALLEY, 1891, P. 75. Architecture and History Survey. October 2007. Prepared by Eric J. Wheeler. Walking Tour Through Old Kaukauna: Two Self-Guided Historic Tours Kaukauna, Wisconsin, City of Kaukauna, 1983. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |