Reimagining Buffalo’s Historic Schools

by Paul McDonnell, AIA

Twenty years ago the Buffalo City School District embarked on an ambitious project to reconstruct, consolidate and right size its school facilities. Ultimately costing over $1.3 billion, the 15-year project resulted in the reconstruction of 48 schools. Like most “rust belt” cities Buffalo has seen its population drop significantly in the last seventy years. The City reached its peak in 1950 and ranked fifteenth in the country with a population of over 580,000. By 2000 the population had dropped to 292,000 and school enrollment was 45,000 student attending 78 buildings. By 2015 enrollment was down to 34,000 in 60 school buildings. While some of this was attributable to residents leaving the city, many students had shifted to the newly created charter schools. As the population dropped, new school construction stagnated and maintenance and capital improvements on the remaining buildings dropped precipitously. With advancing age, Buffalo’s students were trapped in outdated and inferior schools, especially when compared to their suburban neighbors. The New York State Education Department recognized the obstacles Buffalo was facing and offered an extraordinary amount of building aid, (93.7%), to reconstruct and update its schools. In addition, special legislation was passed to allow Buffalo to pursue financing other than the general municipal bonds sold by the City of Buffalo. To facilitate this a Joint School Construction Board (JSCB) was developed with members from the school district, city and comptroller’s office overseeing the project. They in turn hired the LP Ciminelli Construction Com-

School 97, Harvey Austin Elementary, Cannon Design

panies to act as “Program Provider.” Ciminelli would finance the project through the Erie County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) and then in partnership with the school district facilities department, they hired architects for programming and design and then procured contractors through completive bidding and managed construction. The 93.7% building aid from New York State would go directly to pay the IDA bonds while the remaining 7.3% would be paid through interest on the bonds and Energy Performance Contracts developed by Johnson Controls. Reconstruction would cost the Buffalo City School District virtually nothing.

School 80, Highgate Heights Elementary, Flynn Battaglia

The first step the district took was to survey and evaluate all 78 existing buildings to determine what work was and what buildings would be renovated or closed. Generally, Buffalo’s schools were safe, clean and well maintained by the custodial staff, but numerous deficiencies were glaringly apparent. These included inadequate power for computers and electronics, little or no Internet access, old plumbing, drafty windows, leaky roofs, inefficient heating systems, disabled ventilation systems and worn finishes. Programmatically, classrooms, cafeterias and gymnasiums were undersized, science labs were deficient in both size and equipment, and there were very few support spaces for counselors, social workers and therapists. What also was apparent however, was the inherent quality of most of these buildings. Constructed entirely of masonry, with large, bright windows, terrazzo floors, rich woodwork and elaborate auditoriums, these buildings could not be duplicated and would surely last decades more. It was determined that instead of building new schools; the existing ones would be renovated and necessary additions constructed to provide the missing program spaces. The majority of Buffalo’s schools were built between 1912 and 1939. Ms. Claire Ross of the New York State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) in her letter determining historic significance stated that these schools are “significant examples of early twentieth century urban school architecture found in Western New York.” She went on to say “These buildings possess additional significance for representing the response of the City to expanding school-age population in the booming community and they stand as a reminder of the importance of public education in the history of Buffalo. Designed by local architects, these schools are typical of the period of significance and are fine examples of standardized school design of the early twentieth century.” It was decided that virtually all of the Buffalo Schools constructed before World War II were eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and plans and specifications for the renovations would be reviewed by the SHPO. Buffalo treated the historic status as an opportunity to define the direction of the project and SHPO reviews would ensure that any of the renovations and changes did not adversely impact the historic fabric of the buildings. One of the most important elements considered was the treatment of windows. No longer would inappropriate aluminum windows with opaque upper panels be used. All of the historic buildings would have their original windows completely restored or replaced with new ones matching the originals. Windows were removed from the building and taken off site, stripped of paint, repaired, glazed with insulated glass, replacing the original single glass. They were then painted, reinstalled in new weather-stripped frames, and rebalanced. The restored windows are not only sensitive to the design of the building, but they provide ample ventilation, insulation and daylight. Experience has determined them to be far superior to vinyl or aluminum windows. Where new windows were necessary, they were designed to match the originals and constructed of sustainable mahogany or Spanish cedar that mimicked the originals. A major obstacle the district had to address was accommodating contemporary programs in buildings that had been constructed for totally different functions. For example, School 97, Harvey Austin Elementary was formerly a vocational high school filled with large shops for culinary arts, woodworking and furniture construction. In its change to a middle school, these rooms were reconfigured to smaller classrooms while maintaining the full height renovated factory windows and the north facing saw tooth skylights. The result is wonderfully bright classrooms, labs a library and offices that preserve the integrity of the original architecture. From the outside one could not tell the function has changed. School 80, Highgate Heights and School 67, Discovery were originally designed with the same building plan, yet their new use would be very different. School 80, is a traditional neighborhood elementary school with a program that revolves around literacy. The finishes and colors are reminiscent of those used when the building was first built, from the round school house light fixtures to the oak woodwork, the linoleum flooring and the original restored windows. Most of the original cabinetry and classroom doors were restored. In the center of the building both figuratively and physically is the

School 67, Discovery Elementary, HHL Architects

Buffalo Culinary School, Kideney Architects

library covered by restored skylights in the courtyard roof. Two areas not envisioned in the 1920’s when the building was originally designed were the large cafeteria (children used to walk home for lunch) and science labs. These were accommodated in new additions at either end of the building. Outside, the attention to traditional detail continues with the copper covered classical canopies at two of the entrances and the gently curved cafeteria wall containing a distinctive diagonal “diapering” pattern adorning the brick that complements the original building. School 67 houses a brand new elementary level program entitled Discovery, that encourages hands on learning. The architect chose to utilize the center open courtyard of the building by demolishing the one story portion and replacing it with a the cafeteria and multi-level library. Covering this space is a four story high lightweight fabric roof providing diffused light to the space. The fabric roof required very little structure and from the outside it is virtually invisible, thus not altering the historic exterior. In keeping with the “discovery” theme all the interior frame work for the roof is exposed and electrical conduit, wiring, plumbing and sprinkler lines throughout the building are left open for the children to see. A highlight is the full height glass enclosed elevator supported by four bright red columns soaring through the center of the building under the fabric roof. The JSCB project allowed Buffalo to provide its students with some truly unique buildings housing programs unavailable in any other local school district. These include a Visual and Performing Arts School with a state-of-the-art theater, television studio, art rooms and black box theater. Burgard Vocational High School located in a 1920’s vintage building trains students in auto mechanics and machinery. Buffalo also has two Culinary schools in downtown Buffalo where the students not only produce the food but operate restaurants that serve downtown customers breakfast and lunch. Recently Buffalo installed solar panels on 19 schools. These panels provide approximately 20% of the required power to

Hutchinson Central Technical High School, Montante Solar

each of the buildings. Producing 3 megawatts, it is the largest public school solar project in New York State Ultimately no one can deny the success of this reconstruction and historic preservation program. The district realizes that strong, successful schools are vital for the city to thrive. In addition, these facilities are the focal points within their neighborhoods and can be the catalyst for community redevelopment. Neighborhood schools are an asset that the suburban districts don’t offer. With this project, Buffalo has been able to maintain the integrity of its architecturally significant schools while creating learning environments that are a match to any other in New York State. l

Paul is a lifelong resident of Buffalo, NY. He spent 32 years working as an architect in the public sector—the last 25 years was as an architect and the Director of Facilities for Buffalo Public Schools. The highlight of his career was managing the $1.3 billion Joint School Construction project which completely renovated 48 of Buffalo’s schools. Paul is an expert in historic preservation. His work with the Buffalo school district involved dozens of landmarked buildings. He also served as chair of the Buffalo Preservation Board for 11 years. He is co-founder and president of Buffalo’s leading preservation advocacy organization, the Campaign for Greater Buffalo History Architecture and Culture and board member for the Buffalo/Niagara Freedom Station. Paul has served as President of AIA Buffalo/WNY, as a Director and Vice President for Communications & Public Awareness for AIANYS and is currently serving as the Vice President for Education for AIANYS.