| Additional Information: | A 'site file' 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, State Historic Preservation Office.
The following information is from the 2009 Intensive Survey Report of Menasha:
As completed in 1938, the Menasha High & Vocational School campus was comprised of four connected buildings: an auditorium, the education/classrooms; a gymnasium and a vocational school unit. A modern gymnasium wing was added more recently to the school at its east end. The side-gabled educational unit with parapet endwalls is located at the approximate center of the complex and rises two-and-one-half stories. A Wren-inspired, wood-framed tower rests along the roof's ridge and wooden dentil trim runs beneath the eave. Stone trim accents the windows in the form of keystones and balustered balconets, while additional stone ornament featuring swag detail is located above each of the round-arched windows of the primary (south) elevation. Two-story wings extend from either side and each end attaches to a one-story connector/hall wing that attaches to the original, two-story, brick, vocational school block on the west and the gymnasium block to the east. The original floor-to-ceiling windows along the south elevation of the gym wing have been bricked in; however, windows remain intact along the east facade. The corners of this building feature stone quoining and the previously described, balustered balconets are also found on the east elevation of this wing. An additional one-story hyphen connects this wing to the circa-1980s, brick-faced gymnasium wing. Finally, the westernmost block of the complex is the auditorium, which features a two-story, fully pedimented, stone portico. Like the gymnasium block, the original floor-to-ceiling windows have been bricked in along the primary elevation.
Designed by the Green Bay firm of Foeller, Schober & Berners, the Menasha High & Vocational School was built between 1936 and 1938. Plans for the construction of a new high school were underway prior to the March 1936 fire that destroyed the existing high school building. Indeed, in July 1935, an application, complete with sketches, was filed with the Public Works Administration (PWA) for a grant amounting to $270,000 for what was anticipated to be a $600,000 building. Fourteen months following the submittal, and exactly six months after the fire, the Board of Education received in September a letter approving the funding. The Maurice Schumacher Company of Minneapolis was the low bidder and construction began on 1 December 1936. Approximately six weeks later, a labor strike occurred, which was settled on 4 February 1937. Because school equipment was lost in the 1936 fire, an additional $38,000 in funding was requested from the PWA. The final inspection of the four-unit complex occurred on 19 February 1938. An open house, which was reportedly attended by over 14,000 persons, was held between 25-27 March. Actual dedication of the building occurred on Commencement Day, 2 June 1938. More recently, a large gymnasium wing was added to the complex.
2021: Menasha High & Vocational School was constructed in 1938 in a Colonial Revival style following a design by the Green Bay firm of Foeller, Schober, and Berners. This 2-story building is irregular in plan with a series of later additions, the most recent of which was completed c.2015. |
|---|
| Bibliographic References: | A photo of the campus is included in "The New High and Vocational School, Menasha, Wisconsin," Program for the Open House, March 25-27, 1938.
"Minneapolis Firm is Low Bidder on Menasha School," The Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, 20 November 1936, 11.
Menasha Board of Education to the Public Works Administration, Letter of Correspondence, 2 April 1937.
"High School Building, Menasha, Wisconsin," Typescript timeline, dated 11 August 1938.
"14,000 Visitors Inspect School," Appleton Post-Crescent, 10/5-6.
Aside from the newspaper articles, all aforementioned material on file at the Menasha Historical Society Research Center. |
|---|
