Art Deco Delights: Northside's Grant Middle School

 Syracuse, NY. Grant School (1931-32).  Photo: Samuel D. Gruber August 2013

 Syracuse, NY. Grant School (1931-32).  Photo: Samuel D. Gruber August 2013

Art Deco Delights: Northside's Grant Middle School
by Samuel D. Gruber

(n.b. This post was updated on January 29, 2014.  The names of archtects were added).





When one thinks of Syracuse's architectural contributions to the Art Deco or Art Moderne styles, the Niagara Mohawk (now National Grid) building always demands first (and sometime only) attention.  It is our most spectacular building, and one that perfectly melds style to message.  Like the Chrysler Building in New York, it is one of a handful of iconic American commercial buildings of the 1930s.  

But Syracuse has much more to offer in Art Deco and Art Moderne.  During the boom years of the late 1920s and even in the first years of the Great Depression, private and public projects continued - albeit at a much slower pace and often plagued by funding and labor problems.  Building really didn't peter out in Syracuse until about 1932-33 when previously planned projects were completed, and no new projects were begun.

I've been looking at a lot of these buildings and will attempt to post about them to make them better known.  Few are included in any architectural guides, so local residents, visitors and scholars are hardly aware of their existence - or hardly give their history and architecture much thought.  

For me, the greatest - or certainly the biggest - of these Art Deco delights is the Grant School on Grant Boulevard and Kirkpatrick Street on the Northside.  Completed in the fall of 1932, it was one of several schools built or planned to alleviate massive school overcrowding at the time, but budget constraints kept it closed until the new school year began in September, 1933.  The new Grant Junior High School, built in a very modern style we now call Art Deco, replaced the former Grant School on 2nd North Street between Danforth and Kirkpatrick, that had opened in 1898 (and still stands). Charles Colton was the architect of the earlier school, and prolific school architect James A. Randall designed the new Grant School.

Syracuse, NY. former Grant Elementary School on 2nd North St., opened in 1898.  Now the Neumann Hall Residence (n.b. the entrance has been drastically changed). Photo: Samuel D. Gruber August 2013

Syracuse, NY. Grant School (1931-32).  Photo:  Samuel D. Gruber August 2013

In the late 1920s and early 1930s the Syracuse City School District was overwhelmed with record enrollments. Despite new buildings erected in the 1920s (such as  Nottingham High School opened in 1924), every school at every level was overcrowded by 1930.  Publicly funded school construction was one area where building was needed and continued after the 1929 stock market crash.  Mayor Marvin saw school construction as a way to alleviate unemployment - and even advocated hiring two separate crews to work alternate weeks at Grant - but was overruled because this would be more expensive.  Preference was given to local contractors.

 Syracuse, NY. Grant School (1931-32).  Photo: Samuel D. Gruber August 2013

 Syracuse, NY. Grant School (1931-32).  Photo: Samuel D. Gruber August 2013

The new building was of brick and what appears to be cast stone combined in a warm color pattern of orange and beige.  The three-story building is framed with two heavy tower-like corner pavilions and has a large projecting entrance bay, all of which are articulated in what appears to be cast (concrete) stone resembling carved limestone blocks.  The tops of these and the central entrance bay are decorated with lively relief work, combining geometric shapes and patterns with stylized floral designs - all typical of Art Deco architectural decoration of the period.  In between are flat walls of brick punctuated by large classroom windows.

 Syracuse, NY. Grant School (1931-32).  Relief of monkey gathering nut. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber August 2013

 Syracuse, NY. Grant School (1931-32).  Photo: Samuel D. Gruber August 2013

To the sides of the main entrance are carved brackets supporting window lintels.  These depict a monkey wearing clothes gathering nuts or fruits which could be symbolic of children gathering knowledge or a sly reference to the theory of evolution and the 1925 Scopes (monkey) trial. On another bracket is an eagle with a small nestling (?) at its feet, also by a similar nut or fruit tree.  These and other decorations of the school building deserve closer scrutiny.  Go take at look!

see: "Economy in School Budget May Keep Grant School Closed Till September, 1933," Syracuse Herald (October 9, 1932).