8 replies to this topic

[bclaridge]

Apparently there are plans (at this time yet to be approved by the Board of Trustees) to consolidate William James/Morningside, J.P. Elder/Kirkpatrick, and Daggett/McLean middle schools.

The plans for William James and J.P. Elder concern me a little bit, considering the architectural significance of those schools. Between these two schools, only the J.P. Elder annex has a historic designation. I'm relatively sure that the current James and Elder middle schools are similar buildings in many respects.

For William James, if consolidation with Morningside MS moves forward, I like the plan where Morningside MS gets a new facility that incorporates a part of the old school with a historic designation; this could allow the old William James MS to get a new lease on life as a community facility and/or become part of the Texas Wesleyan campus. The downside are that these two schools are quite some distance apart, and one community will win out over the other regardless of the site at which school consolidation takes place (this is also a concern with Daggett/McLean, and maybe a little less with Elder/Kirkpatrick).

One inspiration for what the old William James (and/or J.P. Elder) buildings could become as a community facility would have to be Maryland Hall in Annapolis, Maryland; this arts-related facility was the former Annapolis High School. I think William James might be a better candidate for such a facility due to the proximity of Texas Wesleyan University, and any support TxWes could offer such a facility.

[John T Roberts]

J.P. Elder Main Building, William James, and W.C. Stripling were all opened in 1937 and were designed by Wiley G. Clarkson.  You were correct in that you said they were similar.  In fact, they are all essentially the same floor plan with different facades and orientation.  William James and Stripling turn the wings toward the street.  At Elder, the plan is flipped and the wings are oriented toward the back of the building. 

 

As for historic designations, the schools vary.  Below is the school and the designation:

 

William James - No historic designations

Morningside - Located within a City Historic District, but not individually designated

J.P. Elder Main Building - City Demolition Delay (Annex is on the National Register)

Kirkpatrick - City of Fort Worth Historic & Cultural Landmark

Daggett - Located within a City Historic District and National Register Historic District

McLean - No historic designations

 

If a structure is located within a City or National Register Historic District, but not individually designated, the structure is given all advantages of actual designation. 

 

Also, for the record, I have worked on William James, both buildings of J.P. Elder, Kirkpatrick, and Daggett. 

[bclaridge]

Daggett - Located within a City Historic District and National Register Historic District

Now that I think about it, I think Daggett Middle School would also be a great candidate for becoming a community arts-related facility along the lines of the idea I proposed above, provided that Daggett Montessori doesn't need the facility.

I think such a facility would work well with the Fairmount neighborhood in particular. The Maryland Hall facility I mentioned above includes space to display art, along with a performance space that uses the former Annapolis High School auditorium. The auditoriums in both William James and J.P. Elder (main building) are very similar to each other and quite pretty, from the pictures I've seen.

Given the plans for J.P. Elder, I think either Daggett or William James would be the best candidates for such a facility, in my opinion. Kirkpatrick could work too, but I think the communities surrounding Daggett and William James would make arts-related facilities in those locations much more viable.

[rriojas71]

I like your ideas for the facility but I think you are underestimating the community surrounding Elder.  It is just outside the Stockyards and the Northside neighborhood is really changing in a cool and interesting direction.  And that change has gone from slowly trudging forward to warming up for a race.

 

I think either candidate would be fine.  Just adding another point of view.

[bclaridge]

I like your ideas for the facility but I think you are underestimating the community surrounding Elder.  It is just outside the Stockyards and the Northside neighborhood is really changing in a cool and interesting direction.  And that change has gone from slowly trudging forward to warming up for a race.
 
I think either candidate would be fine.  Just adding another point of view.

I agree!

I guess the reasoning I did not mention Elder as much was that the consolidation plan there seemed to revolve completely around closing Kirkpatrick and building a new campus on the Elder site, just as the McLean/Daggett consolidation plan completely revolved around building a new facility on the McLean campus, leaving Daggett empty. I will admit, I would really hate to see the main building at Elder get demolished; if it could be kept it would be perfect for a extensive community facility, especially if both the main building and the annex were included in such a plan.

I was focused more on Kirkpatrick (not Elder) as a result, as that campus would probably end up closing. It is somewhat close to the Stockyards, but it is also a bit further away from major activity centers and quite close to Meacham Airport.

As mentioned before, the William James/Morningside consolidation could go either way, with plans to build new campuses on the site of either William James or Morningside. Something tells me that FWISD might take the less-expensive Morningside MS plan, although I personally think William James would be the better location. As with Elder I hate to see the old William James get demolished (despite their similarities with each other and with Stripling), so if FWISD goes with the Morningside plan, that could open up William James to other uses.

What should happen is that a foundation gets formed, partners with FWISD on preserving these facilities, and turns at least one of them into a community facility akin to what I proposed above. I would love to be a part of such an initiative. Coincidently, Elder is quite close to where I live.

[John T Roberts]

Here is a link to a FWISD Page that has all six Middle School Presentations available.  These presentations give more details on the problems and the design on all six campuses. Click the "Learn More" link inside the table on the page.

 

https://www.fwisd.org/domain/8949

[Urbndwlr]

What is the 3+ story red-brick building south of JP Elder Middle School?  It appears to have "High School" above one of the doors - is that the old North Side High or another?  Im sure that info is contained somewhere within this website but couldn't find it quickly without knowing the name of the school or building.

 

The position of that building at the crown of the hill, overlooking Circle Park, offers such a dramatic view (looking both up and down). 

The positioning of the mid-century library below is unfortunate, in that it interrupts that view from below, looking up at the school building. Seriously- if the library is removed and red building restored to some sort of relevant use, that perspective/view is perhaps the most impressive in Fort Worth - on par with the Amon Carter Museum front terrace.

 

I truly hope 2 things on this:

1) that red brick building has long term, substantial uses, not just as an every now and then facility, and

2) that the library below can be removed and rebuilt, perhaps to the side, enabling that green space and view to extend up to the school. 

 

If we wind up with a situation where there are no realistic public uses for some buidings like that which definitely deserve to be saved, we should turn those over to enable carefully chosen developers to convert to multi family.  Since on the national register, they wouldnt be able to rip out the architecture, and would have to work within it.  Since that's a rental use, it could be, at some point in future decades, returned to public use, but saved and preserved by a market-rate use in the interim.

 

also a long term ground lease could do this - giving the public the right to return public use in 30 years or so (about the life of the interior MF improvements before needs heavy renovation anyway).

[FunkyTownTay]

There was a conversation about this building recently in this thread: (starting around post 77, I think)

https://www.fortwort...pic=7175&page=2

 

[John T Roberts]

By the way, I had a busy day on Wednesday and I measured an older building that didn't have air conditioning and after work, the AIA had a tour of the Transform 1012 N. Main Building (Ellis Pecan).  It was also hot on the tour.  Anyway, tonight I went to bed and then woke up and I couldn't get back to sleep.  That's why I'm posting this, now.

 

The red brick building on the south side of the J.P. Elder Campus is what is called the J.P. Elder Annex.  Originally, it was built in 1918 as the North Fort Worth High School.  It is listed on the main site's Northside page as "North Fort Worth High School/J.P. Elder Annex".  The building description gives some of the history of the building.  You have to remember that back in 1918, North Fort Worth was a separate city and was not absorbed into Fort Worth until 1922.