Post by REoL on Aug 5, 2009 20:47:41 GMT -5
Picture of building no longer online. Guess I have to take a couple!
Former May A. Gallagher Junior High School
Former May A. Gallagher Junior High School
Built in 1928 as Leominster Junior High School, this was a new school with modern design, with a steel frame, and very cheaply constructed for it's time (yet still holds up well). The "large brick" foundation for the basement is the tan brick, like the rest of the building, with a cement casting of fake "granite" stone blocks, very bland "Greek Revival" trim in most areas, and very bland exterior brick walls. Some details are made on the auditorium side (now the Leominster District Courthouse), as well as the center entry on the main side (front) of the building. The thick walls are not solid brick, but is done to hide the steel gurders behind them. (In the staircase view of the video, you'll notice register ducts within the "thick walls".)
Some time in the '50's, the building was renamed May. A Gallagher Junior High School (I know it was at LEAST in 1958), named after the former principal, and teacher, at the school. She laid the cornerstone of the Junior High School concepts still used today.
The interior is mostly the same as it always was, except the basement was the most altered. The open cafeterias are closed up and turned into office space (pointed out in the video), and an elevator was installed in 2001 where former entry points into public areas. The other levels are mostly unchanged, except the elevator bay, and the opposite emergency exit bay (for courthouse on other side) are drywalled (was the same tan brick originally), and hides a true treasure: a dumbwaiter that served the library on the 3'rd floor (above central staircase).
We ride the elevator, which is positioned at the very end of the boys kitchen serving area. On the first floor, it blocks the right-side entry into the stadium seating for the gym below. The second floor, elevator blocks the right-hand entry in what used to be the auditoruim. It doesn't block anything on the 3'rd floor, but the drywall covers a doorway that led to stairs that led to the stage below (pointed out in video). A similar door was mirror-opposite on the left entry.
The building is in need of cosmetic repair. Lots of peeling paint, and crumbling, and water-stained plaster.
The elevator was a cheap add-on, as it doesn't even have an actual interior finish: only the masonite walls exist, no handrail, and the instalation blankets are still in place. At least the ride is excellent, so the handrails aren't really needed.
Here's the elevator ride. It didn't want to go at first, then the door acted weird, but then all was fine after:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPNiAbX6Ndc
