THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 23, 1997 TAG: 9701230032
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Commentary
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, Architecture Critic
LENGTH: 104 lines
Tear it down.
I never thought I'd hear such words leave my mouth. But it makes sense. Norfolk's old Taylor Elementary School, despite some glorious features, has outlived its usefulness and would better serve pupils by becoming a pile of rubble.
I expected to arrive at a different conclusion before touring the building and looking at plans for a new and a renovated school. And I still have some misgivings. So first, let's look at reasons for renovating the present school rather than building a new one.
Start with transoms, 13-foot ceilings, plaster walls and huge windows. Old buildings have a luxury about them that is almost impossible to replicate.
Rising living standards in the past century have made the construction of fine buildings more, rather than less, difficult. With labor so costly, goes the chant, who can afford plaster walls?
So, what we get are boxy schools with cinder block walls that feel like warehouses.
The air of luxury continues in Taylor's overall structure. The 80-year- old building was designed around a 7,000-square-foot auditorium stretching two stories. Who can imagine such indulgence now?
It is no longer present at Taylor. The auditorium was chopped in half in the 1950s. Even so, it's better than the multipurpose cafeterias that serve as auditoriums in most new elementary schools.
But it's from the outside that Taylor really shines. The statuesque, two-story building with stucco-and-brick trim adds a sense of place to the area, without stealing the limelight from the beautiful old homes around it.
Then there's the pedigree. Taylor was apparently designed by John Kevan Peebles, a leading turn-of-the-century architect. He designed dozens of fine buildings locally and across the state. Architectural historian Kelly Nolte said they include the Monticello Hotel (torn down), Epworth United Methodist Church downtown and the Royster House in Ghent. In Richmond, he designed the Virginia Museum of Fine Art and added the wings to the state Capitol.
He also happened to live across the street from Taylor Elementary.
So given all that, why tear the building down?
Time and the practice of squeezing 400 kids into a school designed for 250 - and cramming in such modern school fixtures as guidance counselors and computer labs - has robbed the building of much of its charm.
Taylor, despite its big windows, is often dark and depressing inside. In the long hallways, a dim florescent light high overhead dimly illuminates gray-green walls lined with bunches of loose-hanging wiring.
Despite the presence of five portable classrooms outside, the building has been chopped into pieces. A cafeteria, not needed when kids walked home for lunch, has been squeezed into the basement. The school's library takes up half the old auditorium.
The building has structural problems as well. Water leaks into classrooms through ceilings and outer walls.
Tymoff & Moss, the Norfolk architecture firm handling the job, has produced two sets of plans. One would partly renovate the school and add a sizable addition at a cost of $4.8 million. The other would build a new school for $6.4 million.
The $4.8 million would not buy all that much. The exposed wires and grim prison-style lighting would stay, said Barry Moss, whose son attends the school and who has devoted himself to the project.
Much of the money would have to go to stripping the stucco and replacing it with a brick facade, which Moss says is necessary to fix water problems. More money would go toward elevators and wheelchair lifts to make the building handicapped-accessible.
To truly renovate the existing building well, and enlarge it as needed, would cost more than $8 million, Moss said.
How does the plan for a new school look?
Not bad. Although it lacks the grandness of Taylor's classical style, it would be a two-story urban school that would fit the neighborhood. It would be built in front of the present school, allowing the old school to be used while the new one is being erected.
It would also re-orient the school toward Princess Anne Road, which would be a blessing. The present building comes across somewhat awkwardly because its grand front door opens onto a playground. The front door was intended to open onto Baldwin Avenue, but the city did not extend that street. The front entrance is not used now, and students and teachers creep in a small side door.
Moss also says a new school could include high ceilings, big windows, tall doorways and other features that make the old school special. Maybe even some plaster walls. The new school would also have neat features like a recessed roof over a center cafeteria/auditorium that would allow light into downstairs hallways.
Perhaps most importantly, it would better accommodate all the functions that have been squeezed into Taylor. A center cafeteria would sit next to a new auditorium, with a dividing wall that could be removed. The library would sit near the street, to serve the community. Bigger offices would be by the front entrance, where most people look for them.
So adding up the pluses and minuses, a new school seems to makes sense. The best thing about the old building is its site in the middle of West Ghent, which allows many kids to walk to school. This would not change.
If a new school is built, I would suggest that the conscientious parents of Taylor hover over the school system to make sure that something more than just another warehouse is built. ILLUSTRATION: Staff/File Photo
Taylor Elementary School in Ghent may be renovated or replaced.
DECISION TIME
The Norfolk School Board is expected to vote today on whether to
renovate Taylor Elementary School in West Ghent or tear it down and
construct a new one on the site.
KEYWORDS: TAYLOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL