Olean High School - Congress Yearbook (Olean, NY)

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For several years aTTer This The need Tor a new building was hidden behind The shadow oT depression. People were busy avoid- ing This shadow and money was scarce. BuT suddenly again inTo The open appeared The discussion. There were Those who sTaTed ThaT The building was good Tor anoTher TwenTy years. They scoTTed aT The idea ThaT The world was progressing To The exTenT oT Two high schools in TiTTy years, buT They were in The minoriTy. OThers, The champions oT youTh, Took up The Torch. AT a meeTing oT The Board oT EducaTion held November 20, I933, iT was decided To Take The necessary, preliminary sTeps To secure a loan and granl' Trom The Federal GovernmenT Tor The purpose OT erecTing a new high school building. ATTer The appoinTmenT on November 23, I933, oT A. W. E. Schoenberg as ArchiTecT and Carl W. Clark as ConsulTanT Archi- TecT, plans and speciTicaTions were drawn. These included many modern devices, and conveniences, The lack oT which in The old building was one oT The reasons Tor iTs desTrucTion. WiTh The preliminary plans and skeTches compleTe, a moTion was made aT The meeTing oT The Board oT EducaTion held June 4, I934, ThaT on June 25, a special disTricT meeTing be held To submiT The guesTion To The public Tor Their auThorizaTion. AT This Time The qualiTied voTers oT The school disTricT auThorized The Board of Edu- caTion To proceed wiTh The new high school proiecT by a voTe of 1423 To 528. The applicaTion made To The Federal GovernmenT Tor Tunds boTh as a granT and in a loan was accepTed by The Public Works AdminisTraTion. On OcTober Il, IQ34, The UniTed STaTes GovernmenT enTered inTo a conTracT wiTh The Olean Board oT EducaTion agreeing To aid in The Tinancial end oT The proiecT. School was disconTinued in The old building aT The end oT The TirsT semesTer in January i935 and l-ligh School classes opened in The high school gymnasium and in Schools Five, Six and Ten. Early in February oT i935 The General MaTerial and Wrecking Company in charge oT Samuel Sogg, presidenT, commenced The razing oT The building so well known To residenTs oT Olean and viciniTy. For Two monThs The sounds oT men busy wiTh The work oT abolishing The old To make way Tor The new could be heard. The building Took on a skeleTonized appearance. Rooms disappeared and The halls became crowded wiTh old eguipmenT and rubbish. Finally There were no more walls. The walls oT The old building were demolished brick by brick. Then aT lasT, There was no more oT The old sTrucTure which had made iTs TirsT appearance in I88O. In March The Task oT razing The old building was compleTed. From March To June oT T935 was a very busy Time Tor The members oT The Board oT EducaTion, The archiTecT and his aids. When plans were compleTed and approved by The STaTe Engineer and The Board oT RegenTs The Board oT EducaTion adverTised Tor I 4

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THE NEW OLEAN I-IIGI-I SCI-TOOL BUILDING For years The old red briclc building ThaT was Olean I-Iigh School building sTood unchallenged on The Tip oT Sullivan I-Iill. IT served iTs purpose TaiThTulIy Tor over TiTTy years. lvlany sTudenTs had called her corridors and rooms 'home'. BuT aT IasT, her duTy TulTilled, she became unsuiTed, Too old and inTirm To ouTTiT The coming generaTion. She musT needs pass To allow a new sTrucTure To rise in her place. I:iTTy years The old I-Iigh School had served youTh Tinely and nobly. BuT as Time passed and The number oT pupils grew, many Tar-sighTed ciTizens could see in Their mind's eye a new and beTTer school. IT was seen even more clearly ThaT a new building was soon To be needed. As The number OT subiecTs oTTered To sTudenTs grew, so grew also The need Tor more space To carry on boTh The curricular and exTra-curricular acTiviTies oT our school. The TaciliTies Tor Teaching science, Tor example were inadequaTe and many imporTanT experi- menTs had To be done in Theory alone. Many oT The oTher acTiviTies so viTal To school liTe were hampered and curTailed To a greaT exTenT by laclc oT space. The gymnasium was in need oT enlargemenT. Germanlclasses overTlowed To The Open Air School building. Soon people began commenTing upon The inadequacy oT The old ediTice. IT was labeled a Tire Trap . I-Ier sTairs were shabby: her rooms and seaTs, were baTTle scarred Trom combaT wiTh sTudenTs Tor over ThirTy years: The saniTary condiTions were noT oT The besTg The lighTing TaciIiTi,es were bad and sTudy space was needed. The library was Taxed To capaciTy wiTh new boolcs and reading maTerial, looking sadly ouT oT place on The well worn shelves. The laboraTories were anTique and did noT TuITill Their duTy. WiTh The advenT oT The new conTinuous session iT was Tound ThaT The caTeTeria was enTirely unsuiTed To The large numbers who Tloclced There Tor Their lunches. Surely, said many, SomeThing can and musT be done. Is iT TiTTing, aslced parenTs, To have sTudenTs go Trom new and modern grammar schools To an old high school building? Few oT The grammar schools were as old as The insTiTuTion OT higher learning. The old sTrucTure anTedaTed mosT oT Them and she showed her age. In I93O The TirsT sTep in The high school reorganizaTion program was carried ouT. The gymnasium TirsT available in I923 was en- larged. This gave To The physical educaTion insTrucTors space To carry on a consTrucTive program oT healTh worlc ouTIined by The New Yorlc STaTe Syllabus. IT gave The I-Iigh School aThIeTic Teams suTTicienT room Tor pracTices during inclemenT weaTher and also provided a room in which To hold assemblies denied To pupils when The Senior sTudy hall moved To The old audiTorium. This was The TirsT sTep Toward The new. I 3 ,

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bids. Early in June The conTracTs were leT. The General ConTracT was awarded E. L. Van Siclcel 84 Company oT BradTord, Pennsyl- vania. The elecTrical conTracT was awarded To The RoberTson Elec- Trical ConsTrucTion Company oT BuTTalo. The heaTing, plumbing and venTilaTion conTracTs were given ChaTTield and Sharp ConTrac- Tors' CorporaTion oT JamesTown, New Yorlc. ln all cases The con- TracTs were awarded To The Iowes+ bidders. These were signed on June 7, 1935. Soon The large excavaTion occasioned by The razing oT The old building Toolc on The appearance OT a bee hive. Large wooden Torms were erecTed To hold The concreTe Tor The ToundaTions oT The building. Truclcs buzzed To and Tro Trom one place To anoTher, all carrying supplies needed in The business oT consTrucTion. NexT, huge beams oT sTeel made Their appearance and as They reared Their sleek blaclc lengTh The shape oT The building became apparenT. ln SepTember, classes were again held in The gym and in The oTher cenTers, buT The gueerness oT This had worn OTT in The preceeding Term and only Those aT The gym can appreciaTe The Tinal compleTion oT The sTeel worlc. An inTeresTing evenT occurred November 20, I935. This was The laying oT The corner sTone. To The Tunes oT The Olean High School Band and in an aTmosphere OT good Teeling and Tellowship, wiTh bunTing Tlying in The cold winTer wind, The corner sTone was laid. The addressioT The occasion was given by Mr. A. N. Van Vlaclc, engineer, acTing Tor The sTaTe direcTor oT The Public Worlcs AdminisTraTion. ConTained in The corner sTone were: a rosTer OT school Teachers Then employed in The sysTem, an Olean Times- l-lerald Anniversary, The I935 Olean High School Congress along wiTh a Tew coins. Bricks made Their appearance. The sTrucTure losT iTs loolc oT empTiness and began To loolc lilce a building. Solid and massive and giving a Teeling oT sTrengTh were The huge columns oT sTone. Finally The exTerior was compleTe and The TirsT lap was concluded. The second lap began. Day by day many Truclcs arrived and deparTed, coming loaded wiTh supplies and swepT clean oT Their cargo. The inTerior was now in Torm. Rooms Toolc shape, halls were Tiled, walls smooThed and elecTrical equipmenT insTalled. ATTer nineTeen monThs oT hard work and serious eTForT on The parT oT The Board oT EducaTion and Those working wiTh Them, The building was subsTanTially compleTe and was ready Tor condiTional occupancy. Cn January 25, I937, The building was accepTed condiTionally on The grounds oT subsTanTial compleTion and classes meT wiThin The building Tor The TirsT Time on January 27 aTTer iusT Two years in Temporary guarTers. The DedicaTion Ceremonies were held on WashingTon's birTh- day, February 22, I937. I 5