Whilst in the south I explored a bunch of schools - alone they probably wouldn't be interesting enough to warrant their own threads but together they form a nice little collection.
One of the first things I learned whilst exploring these schools was that the architects really didn't like to put in nice auditoriums in the city schools - they are, with very limited exceptions, utterly pants. Compared with the grand ones found in other cities, the ones in most of the schools felt like afterthoughts which is such a shame as everyone loves a good auditorium. This was also where I first noticed how little graffiti there is in abandoned buildings around Alabama, there was a small amount in the gymnasiums of a couple of them but other than that, nothing. Metal theft/scrapping, yes, tagging, no.
Firstly, Jackson Elementary. Opened in 1925 and named after Confederate General Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson, it was extended in 1961 adding four more classrooms, and closed in 2013. The auditorium here was so embarassingly bad I'm not even going to show a photo of it, it was literally a large classroom with half of the entire room taken up by the stage. Much laughter was had when we saw it, as it was completely unexpectedly awful. Luckily the rest of the school is decent enough, with some nice decay and the ubiquitous suspended ceilings that have been dragged down by metal thieves or water ingress.
Bush Middle School was originally built in 1901, and named after the then school superintendent Ernest Bush. By 1923 it was found that the school was falling apart and needed completely rebuilding, so that was set about and by 1928 the new larger school on the same plot had completely replaced the earlier building. In 1961 a gymnasium was added and the school was further extended in the 1990s. In 2014 plans were submitted to completely renovate the school and students were transferred to a school nearby that had been closed. These renovation plans however never came to fruition and were shelved in 2016 leaving the school derelict.
North Birmingham Elementary School was built in 1923 by a notable local firm Warren Knight & Davis. It was extended in both 1930 and 1950, and was initially slated for closure in 2010 but this was postponed until 2012 when it eventually shut it's doors. That really is the sum total of the information around about this school, luckily it was the most photogenic of the lot - particularly the basement classrooms which each had a couple of inches of standing water in them. There was also a lot more 'stuff' in here, after it closed there had been some effort to reallocate equipment to other schools but a lot had been left behind.
Sipsey Junior High School is a real 'small town' school, it was a quick stop-off on the way back from further afield as although the school itself is small and very trashed, it's got an abnormally large and impressive gymnasium/auditorium combo which I guess would have been used by the local population of surrounding small towns as well as the school itself. It was built in the 1950s as an unimpressive single storey structure, and closed in 2015.
Thanks for looking
One of the first things I learned whilst exploring these schools was that the architects really didn't like to put in nice auditoriums in the city schools - they are, with very limited exceptions, utterly pants. Compared with the grand ones found in other cities, the ones in most of the schools felt like afterthoughts which is such a shame as everyone loves a good auditorium. This was also where I first noticed how little graffiti there is in abandoned buildings around Alabama, there was a small amount in the gymnasiums of a couple of them but other than that, nothing. Metal theft/scrapping, yes, tagging, no.
Firstly, Jackson Elementary. Opened in 1925 and named after Confederate General Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson, it was extended in 1961 adding four more classrooms, and closed in 2013. The auditorium here was so embarassingly bad I'm not even going to show a photo of it, it was literally a large classroom with half of the entire room taken up by the stage. Much laughter was had when we saw it, as it was completely unexpectedly awful. Luckily the rest of the school is decent enough, with some nice decay and the ubiquitous suspended ceilings that have been dragged down by metal thieves or water ingress.
Bush Middle School was originally built in 1901, and named after the then school superintendent Ernest Bush. By 1923 it was found that the school was falling apart and needed completely rebuilding, so that was set about and by 1928 the new larger school on the same plot had completely replaced the earlier building. In 1961 a gymnasium was added and the school was further extended in the 1990s. In 2014 plans were submitted to completely renovate the school and students were transferred to a school nearby that had been closed. These renovation plans however never came to fruition and were shelved in 2016 leaving the school derelict.
North Birmingham Elementary School was built in 1923 by a notable local firm Warren Knight & Davis. It was extended in both 1930 and 1950, and was initially slated for closure in 2010 but this was postponed until 2012 when it eventually shut it's doors. That really is the sum total of the information around about this school, luckily it was the most photogenic of the lot - particularly the basement classrooms which each had a couple of inches of standing water in them. There was also a lot more 'stuff' in here, after it closed there had been some effort to reallocate equipment to other schools but a lot had been left behind.
Sipsey Junior High School is a real 'small town' school, it was a quick stop-off on the way back from further afield as although the school itself is small and very trashed, it's got an abnormally large and impressive gymnasium/auditorium combo which I guess would have been used by the local population of surrounding small towns as well as the school itself. It was built in the 1950s as an unimpressive single storey structure, and closed in 2015.
Thanks for looking
