Property Record
312 NICOLET BLVD
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | St. Patrick's School & Gymnasium |
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| Other Name: | Seton Catholic Middle School |
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| Reference Number: | 61578 |
| Location (Address): | 312 NICOLET BLVD |
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| County: | Winnebago |
| City: | Menasha |
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| Year Built: | 1941 |
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| Additions: | 1961 |
| Survey Date: | 2009 |
| Historic Use: | recreational building/gymnasium |
| Architectural Style: | Late Gothic Revival |
| Structural System: | Unknown |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Eschweiler & Eschweiler (1941) |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | 2009-Previously surveyed in 1984. School and gymnasium incorrectly identified as a house. Additional photos taken of larger school complex. The following material is from the 2009 Intensive Survey report for Menasha: Located on Doty Island and at the corner of Nicolet Boulevard and Washington Street, St. Patrick's Catholic Church Complex is comprised of a church building (AHI#61579), school and gymnasium (AHI#61578), convent (AHI#153681)and rectory (AHI#158682). The 1941 school and gymnasium are connected and located along Washington Avenue. Faced with brick, the two-story school proper's vertical articulation suggests a slight Art Deco influence; however, stylistically, it offers only modest decorative brickwork and glass block insets. The attached one-story gym is gabled with parapet endwalls and largely devoid of detailing; however, like the classroom section, it also incorporates glass block windows. An additional brick-faced classroom section was built in 1961 and east of the gym. Detailing of this one-story building is limited to angled brickwork along the roofline and a carved stone image of (presumably) St. Patrick. Although Catholic services were held as early as 1836 in the general vicinity of Menasha, it was not until 1848 that a mission was established west of Menasha, which was to serve Catholics in both Neenah and Menasha. The following year, a group of twenty-five Irish families (who had been brought to the area to work on the Fox River dam and canal) erected a log church on the site of the existing church. Two years later, a frame church was erected and in 1857, it was dedicated to St. Borromeo. In 1868, a brick school was added to the site and, in March of 1882, fire destroyed the frame church. The subject brick church was built the following year and dedicated to St. Patrick. Between 1899 and 1900 a new parsonage, convent and school were erected (none of the three remain extant) and, in 1916, a tower was added to the church (which was subsequently taken down in 1963). In 1941, a new school was built (designed by Eschweiler & Eschweiler) and, in 1954, a new entrance addition was completed on the church, which was designed by local Appleton architect Maury Lee Allen. The interior was also remodeled to include a mosaic done by Edward Lewandowski, the director of the Layton School of Art in Milwaukee. In 1961, the convent was razed and the existing one was completed (further east) the following year; a six-room school addition now occupies the former convent site. There are no longer School Sisters in residence and the building was later used as the parish center; later still it was rented out to the Theda Clark Regional Medical Center. Finally, the Queen Anne-style rectory was demolished and the existing one was built in 1973. The school closed in June of 1988 and remained closed through September 1989, at which time it reopened as Seton Catholic Middle School, part of the consolidated Catholic education system in Neenah-Menasha. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Original plans by Eschweiler & Eschweiler for school and gymnasium addition at the Wisconsin Architectural Archive, 2nd floor, East Wing, Milwaukee Public (Central) Library. See bib listing under St. Patrick's Church, AHI#61579. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |