Ogden, Utah (ABC4) – Utah is home to many architecturally impressive historic buildings, one of which can be surprising.
Ogden High School, a National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1937 in an Art Deco style and was the “first” school according to the Ogden School District website.
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The school was also the location of the 1987 film. Three o’clock, the website says.
“I don’t think there is any other high school like this,” says Alan Hall, a graduate of the school. Alan Hall, a graduate of the school, donated around $ 9 million in the mid-2000s after the destruction to keep it.
Not only was the school built in the Art Deco style, a popular American architectural design in the 1930s, it also has features not found in regular high schools, such as marble walls and detailed paintings.
“The walls are made of walnut. The color on the plastered walls above is gorgeous and the lighting is Art Deco which makes it feel lovely. The Empire State Building was Art Deco, so all the physics of the floor, the walls, the lighting, the toilets, and so on. It has its own characteristics, ”explains Hall.
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Rob White, a graduate of the school who raised money for the renovation with Hall, recalls when he was a kid he took him to see the Utah Symphony Orchestra perform with him.
“… I started there when I was quite young, but when I grew up in Ogden in the 1950s I was always fascinated by it because it’s a strange building for young children,” he said. In conversation with.
Below: Ogden High School photos and renovations provided by the Ogden School Foundation
But how did Ogden residents spend $ 1 million on luxury high schools shortly after the Great Depression of 1937?
Ogden High School building
Utah Preservation This funding came from the federal government through the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which was set up to alleviate the financial hardship caused by the Great Depression. WPA has hired both skilled and unskilled labor to help work on community projects.
Hall and White compared the state funds as follows: Stimulus Package The federal government distributed it to U.S. citizens considering the COVID-19 pandemic.
“… You worked as a craftsman, so it wasn’t all badly paid jobs. There were artisans and artisans. This explains why a breathtakingly beautiful building was built in the middle of the Great Depression. “It helps,” explains White.
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Hall said the construction of the high school was a result of community efforts.
“Given the traditions of the people of Utah, especially Ogden, the desire to achieve something and do well, change beliefs and help make something happen is something else. It’s like an unrivaled community effort. “
But over the years it began to be devastated as generations of students walked in and out of the school doors.
Fundraising for the renovation of Ogden High School
White told ABC4, “There was a response in the district to break it.” “People who like architecture thought it was absolutely impossible.”
Courtesy of the Ogden School Foundation
It looks like high school today, says Hall. “It’s just concrete block buildings. Nothing is noticeable in high school today. “
According to Hall, Janis Vause of the Ogden School Foundation asked him to raise $ 9 million to renovate the school’s auditorium around 2009.
“We made a great committee to give and receive money and we contacted people interested in Ogden High School. Obviously there are many alumni and many who have now enjoyed high school. “I have,” says Hall.
“That said, in this very difficult economic time, in this recession when people were losing money, we were fortunate enough to be successful in raising money. I went through the fundraising process. I had to see it disassemble and put back in place. How great it was and how much love and commitment it took… ”he adds.
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Hall says he was a little scared of making enough money to renovate the auditorium, but believed it would work.
“We’ll just make it. Nothing could stop us, ”he explains.
According to Halls, the alumni played an important role in the donation to rebuild the high school.
“It was part of our heart and soul. This building had a special meaning for all of us and we wanted to do the same thing we did when we went there. “
He and many of his classmates meet for lunch 60 years after graduation and every few months.
“We’re still friends and that’s the spirit of Ogden High School. It has become a part of us and it still is, ”he says. “It was people other than the building who shaped it.”
White, who worked with Hall to raise funds, says the school has “prominent graduates” who have made very generous donations to the project.
The funds raised were used to restore the auditorium. According to the Ogden School Foundation, they were specifically used for seismic retrofitting to purchase new catwalks, decorative paintings, new chairs, lighting, sound systems, curtains, and carpets.
Ogden High School today
Hall says that when you enter today’s building you feel like you are entering a chapel.
Courtesy of the Ogden School Foundation
“In Europe, it’s like a beautiful cathedral. It’s spectacular. The color, gold and appearance of the auditorium are amazing. “
He says the school’s current student body has great respect for the building.
“… You don’t see graffiti. No dirt is found anywhere. It is cared for in this pristine and beautiful atmosphere, and for me future generations will also respect this magnificent building. It tells us. You don’t hurt. The building itself is getting old. It’s in nature. But I want us to have fixed it up and made it beautiful in the past. Future generations have not only given such beautiful buildings great respect. “
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Mr. White calls this building “a really balanced and beautiful building”.
“Beautiful things change the city. It is just that, and because it’s one of the three or four of the most beautiful buildings in the state, it’s a real source of Ogden’s pride, ”he says. “I think that’s why people were so horrified when they started mentioning the demolition. Likewise, for graduates who went there, a future would be to invest in such a building. Is an optimistic act that gives something really visible to the place you came to. “
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