Built in 1908, the John Scullin Elementary School has long languished in abandonment after closing years ago. It has now been targeted by Saint Louis Public Schools, along with five others, for demolition.
The five other schools slated for demolition have all been examined in previous posts, and you can see them here: 1) Euclid School 2) Hempstead School 3) Walnut Park School (sixth photo) 4) Gundlach School 5) Stowe School.
I realized I had driven by the school numerous times over the years, but had not realized how badly the school had deteriorated, mainly because North Kingshighway’s traffic is so crazy and I’m usually white-knuckling my steering wheel and keeping my eyes straight ahead.
But like all the schools built during the Ittner/Milligan period of construction, it is a beauty, with a picturesque asymmetry to it.
A large number of window have been opened, and the copper flashing and gutters stolen long ago, so the school has been open to the elements for a long time. But of course that is not fatal.
A low-slung building next door alludes to the crowding that SLPS once faced.
So what is my opinion? Well, SLPS just lost full accreditation, so worrying about demolishing buildings is sort of like the crew of the HMS Titanic mopping the deck after the ship already struck the iceberg.
Nice Titanic sized analogy, Naffziger.
Sorry to see Scullin like this. Time to go.
Do the bricks get reused?
I assume they will go to the landfill.
Bricks are always slated to be salvaged to be used by the district for repairs/future construction
My mother attended Scullin and graduated in (I think) 1945. And it’s also the alma mater of Cedric the Entertainer!
My brother and two cousins went to Scullin.
Once these buildings are gone, that’s it. We’ll never see anything of their caliber created again. Not only would it be too expensive to build, but the craftsmanship / attention to detail simply does not exist.
What’s even more tragic than the neglect of these structures is the neglect of the education system in this country. From the looks of what we had, we seem to be regressing.