Saginaw High School - Aurora Yearbook (Saginaw, MI)

Page 15 text:

from the ground to the level of the kitchen. Connecting with the High School kitchen will be a suite of rooms composed of a butler’s pantry, a dining, reception and a bed room, in the order named. Then on the same floor, but in the back part of the building, is the gymnasium and the running track, twenty-nine laps to the mile. The gymnasium itself will be fitted with all suitable appliances, and joined to it will be two locker and shower bath rooms, one above the other, the upper one being for the girls and the lower for the boys. At the north end of the top floor will be two session rooms, and the smaller rooms will be given over to commercial work, stenography, clay modeling and recitations. The two large rooms at the south end will be for sewing and domestic art. In the back part of the basement will be the foundry and forge shops for the boys, and also the engine and boiler rooms, while in the front part will be the shops for cabinet making, wood turning and pattern making, together with a machine shop for metal work. There will also be a complete laundry outfit for the use of the girls. The boil- ers will be of sufficient capacity to heat, not only the building in which they are located, but also the High School upon the opposite side of the street. They will also provide all power required, and will run the electrical generators which will light the two school buildings. Some idea of the size of the building may be had when it is stated that the total area of the three floors is almost sixty thousand square feet. This article would not be complete if some reference was not made to the proposed swimming pool already planned, and which, by reason of Mr. Burt’s recent offer, will be placed in the rear of the building. This will enable all of the children of the city to learn how to swim, and it will be a source of healthful pleasure and real benefit. It is to be regretted that this beautiful building has not greater space about it, but this does not detract from its value. It only means that for such a noble work a worthier frame should have been provided. And now we see that within the four years’ life of this class of ours in the High School, has come the thought and its execu- tion. In massive simplicity the East Side Manual Training School stands almost completed, and its doors will be open to receive the class which follows ours. We can liken ourselves to 11

Page 14 text:

was laid the next day, and the work of our accomplished orator went for naught. The corner-stone itself is of white sand-stone with “A. D. 1903” in raised letters upon its surface. There is within it a copper box containing photographs of the school board and some historical items of that day and time. On November 13th the boys of the High School marched to the Masonic Temple, and there joining forces with the Masons marched back to the Training School. The corner-stone was then laid with Masonic rites by the Grand Lodge of the State of Michigan. Then the walls began to rise, and by August, 1904, the roof was in place and the inside work begun. The roof itself is flat and the walls rise about three feet above it, hiding it entirely from view. The building belongs to the Ionic order of architecture; the walls of the first story are of white sandstone, and of the second and third stories of a brownish red vitrified brick manu- factured in Saginaw. The front of the building is almost two hundred and twenty-five feet in length, but standing before it one has an idea of solidity and proportion. The stone of the first story supports the second story with its recessed courses of brick which, in turn, divided only by a narrow strip of stone, supports the third story with its plain surface laid with Flemish bond. The entrance consists of four white sandstone pillars supporting a gable of stone and brick, and this entrance is truly classic in its proportions, adding greatly to the exterior appear- ance of the building. The large halls in the main building wih give ample room for the classes in passing, and provide access to numerous large, well-lighted rooms. To the left, on enter- ing, Superintendent Warner will occupy a suite of rooms com- posed of a general office in front of his private one, and adjoin- his private office will be the library donated by Mr. Burt’s family. At the extreme left of the building are two large rooms which will be given over to mechanical and free-hand drawing. Joining the mechanical drawing room will be a smaller one with a window facing the west, which will be fitted up with a large printing frame for blue prints. In the same room will be a large tank for washing the same. At the extreme right of the building, on entering, will be two kitchens, one for the High School girls and one for those not so far advanced. In one of these will be an electric elevator for raising ice and supplies 10

Page 16 text:

Moses he looked over into the Promised Land, but history says it was not given him to go there; so we look over upon the new building, with all of its promised services and pleas- ures, and wish that we might have entered. But in regretting that we cannot do so, as scholars, and that the opportunity and enjoyment have not been ours, we are glad for the blessings that those who come after us will enjoy. For the thought, and for the execution of the thought, every one in the City of Saginaw owes to Wellington R. Burt » debt of gratitude, and it is a debt which many generations will feel, but it is also a debt which there will be joy in owing, and which, contrary to the usual form, will make the debtors richer. —James Webber Peter. Saginaw, Michigan, April 29th, 1905. % is