Property Record
249 CONKEY ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | COOPER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | No |
| Reference Number: | 221204 |
| Location (Address): | 249 CONKEY ST |
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| County: | Racine |
| City: | Burlington |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
| Section: | |
| Quarter Section: | |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: |
| Year Built: | 1967 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2011 |
| Historic Use: | school – elem/middle/jr high/high |
| Architectural Style: | Contemporary |
| Structural System: | Balloon Frame |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | N |
| 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: | In 1895, plans began for a new public school building for the Burlington Union Primary School and Burlington Free High School Districts. A building Streets was designed by J. G. Chandler and constructed near the corner of Amanda and Conkey Streets of cream brick and Superior red sandstone for $35,000 by H. R. Edwards. Conkey School opened the following year to house third through twelfth grade students. The primary grades occupied the first floor with the high school department on the second; a large gymnasium was located in the basement. The building boasted new modern conveniences such as mechanical heating and ventilation, water fountains, and electric lights. A Kindergarten Building for lower grades was constructed next door. After the completion of a new high school building in 1925, Conkey School served third through eighth grades until the first and second grades were relocated there in 1949. The school was renamed Cooper School in honor of United States Congressman Henry Allen Cooper. Renovations occurred to the building in 1951. By late 1953, the school board began planning for a new school, which resulted in the re-introduction of kindergarten classes at Cooper School in 1955 and the relocation of seventh and eighth grades elsewhere. A bond for $875,000 was issued after a 1967 referendum to replace Cooper’s 72-year-old building. The old Cooper School and its kindergarten building were demolished in 1970 for room to construct a parking lot and playground for the new Cooper School building that was constructed immediately adjacent to the old school in 1968, at 249 Conkey Street. Cooper Elementary School continues to serve the city to this day and houses kindergarten through the fourth grade. |
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| Bibliographic References: | General Files. On file at the Burlington Historical Society, Burlington, Wisconsin. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |