Wyomissing Area High School - Colophon Yearbook (Wyomissing, PA)

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May first, Nineteen hundred thirty-nine The only alternative, therefore, in order to obtain the maximum amount of good for the least amount of money, was to construct a new roof for the upper grades and to move the elementary students into the Wyomissing Boulevard structure, antiquated as far as meeting high school needs was concerned, but very well suited for grade usage, ln the spring of 1937, the Muhlenburg Brothers were selected as the architects of the pro- posed institution. A special election was held in August, 1937 at which time the affirmative wishes of the borough on a 3260000 bond issue were determined, Through the generosity of Messrs. Thun and Ianssen a site was donated opposite the athletic field, and, with the aid of the federal government, which promised to give forty-five cents out of every dollar of cost, the go-ahead signal was flashed. With the turning of the first shovelful of earth on September 20, 1938, under the super- vision of the general contractor, 5 - Edward A. Reider, residents of Wyo- t missing began to look forward to a new era in education.

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The population in American schools up to this time has been forever increasing, just as regularly as ideas on how an education should be obtained are constantly changing. So it was that when the Wyomissing Schools started to over- flow with an excess student body, the School Board began to think about revising the educational sys- tem of the borough. Either the present buildings had to be en- larged or an entirely new structure erected. A i This idea in its first conceived form, after putting up a new building to house the ele- mentary pupils at the western athletic field, was to maintain two separate grade schools, one at each end of the borough. Since, however, the national birth rate showed a sharp de- crease, such action seemed unnecessary. The second plan of giving up the grade building altogether and housing the entire en- rollment in the high school was also abandoned when it was discovered that the costs for the necessary additions would have been enough to construct a whole new school. Even at such an expense the renovated high school would have been out ot date and not well adapted, for ideas on the modern school layout have undergone radical revision in the past twenty years. April first, Nineteen hundred thirty-nine Page Eight

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August first, Nineteen hundred thirty-nine if ' Work which had proceeded smoothly for quite some time was suddenly slowed up for a period of three months. Peculiar soil conditions had necessitated the sinking of numerous piles down to bedrock surface. However, April 21, 1939 saw the first milestone passed with the completion of all steel structural work, marked by the laying of the cornerstone, into which were sealed for generations to come, material symbols ol school and community life in their present forms. All through the summer of 1939, the edifice neared its completion, presenting to the town an interesting project. Numerous piles had to be sunk, some to a depth of seventy- three feet, with the combined lengths of all equal to one and six-tenths miles. Enough soil was removed to lill a building titty feet square, twelve and one-half stories high, and sufficient steel was con- sumed to build three average loco- motives. ll all the 10,010,001 bricks used were laid end to end, they would stretch from Reading to New York City just as easily as the plaster covering the interior walls could be I M-we isummmmm-. n - i 2 spread out over three and one-half acres and the roofing over four-fitths