Yes, I'm glad they have plans for it. I just worry they're going to ruin original features that remain. That auditorium is near original, architecturally. It's slated for renovation. I don't expect them to do a historical renovation of the space. They're going to do whatever is most affordable.
I'd love to see the windows restored to the original appearance which gave it a much more vertical feel. The "energy saving" renovation decades ago ruined the appearance on the exterior and feel on the interior.
To be quite honest, while I said it's held up given its age, the truth is, $11 million isn't enough for that building. I've worked on a lot of schools, and that's nothing. Hopefully we can keep getting bonds passed that help maintain the remaining historic schools. I still hate how many of them they're tearing down. Primarily Lewton and Mt Hope. (Since Eastern wasn't technically on their watch)
I attended JW Sexton High School in the early '70s, after attending the modern '60s Dwight Rich JHS which also had some nice features, like a sunken garden around a huge oak tree in the front and another garden in the center or building. The auditorium has also very nice, Sexton seemed quite different, like a step up from the junior high. The art tiled halls had large mosaics on the floors at each end of the hallways. The restrooms had marble stalls and urinals! The gym was lit by the natural light of the wall of windows on the north side. The auditorium has a classic deep and tall stage area that can accommodate large productions, and the base reliefs on the outside are really beautiful. There was a classic band and orchestra room with a multi-level seating circle so the band leader/teacher could lead from the center of the class. There was an auto-shop, a woodshop, a home economics room with thirty stoves, a natural science room with a beautiful green house on the west side, and fully equipped art classrooms which were the only classrooms on the fourth floor. We used cast jewelry and fire pots up there. I did feel like the building was special when I went there and for the most part it still is. By the way the new Mt. Hope School is looking quite nice, although there are some odd blue square "portholes" sticking out of the facade.
@gbdinlansing, you summed up a lot of wonderful features that stuck with a lot of people after attending Sexton. You actually may have been there in the same years as my aunt, but I know class sizes were pretty large back then! You'd never see a school spend the money on such "frivolous" things as they did when Sexton was built. That clock tower alone would have been "value engineered" in the schematic design phase lol.
I went to Dwight Rich for awhile and appreciated the building, even as a sixth grader. It's a very nice example of its style. I was there before it recieved much needed renovations.
The clock tower is one place I never went into at Sexton, it was off limits for students, did the tour take you into the clock tower? I believe the clock is keeping the correct time these days.
There is a farm on Round Lake Road that has a barn with the name JW Sexton on it. I would assume it would be the same JW Sexton as the school's name, does anyone know about this farm. It is a very pretty well-kept farm.
Comments
I'd love to see the windows restored to the original appearance which gave it a much more vertical feel. The "energy saving" renovation decades ago ruined the appearance on the exterior and feel on the interior.
To be quite honest, while I said it's held up given its age, the truth is, $11 million isn't enough for that building. I've worked on a lot of schools, and that's nothing. Hopefully we can keep getting bonds passed that help maintain the remaining historic schools. I still hate how many of them they're tearing down. Primarily Lewton and Mt Hope. (Since Eastern wasn't technically on their watch)
I went to Dwight Rich for awhile and appreciated the building, even as a sixth grader. It's a very nice example of its style. I was there before it recieved much needed renovations.
There is a farm on Round Lake Road that has a barn with the name JW Sexton on it. I would assume it would be the same JW Sexton as the school's name, does anyone know about this farm. It is a very pretty well-kept farm.