Aurora Street 148 - Aurora Street School

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: 148 Aurora Street, Lancaster, New York

"As the population of Lancaster continued to grow at the turn of the century, the existing Colfax Heights School and the School Street School were no longer adequate to meet the influx of new students. The Aurora Street School was built in 1922 as the community's new high school

It not only served as the high school for the Village of Lancaster, but many outlying districts also paid tuition to send their pupils to Lancaster for their secondary education. These students - from Cheektowaga, Elma, Marilla, and other rural towns - would ride the city bus or streetcar to get to the school.

The building has changed in size and function over the years. In the late 1950s, a new high school was built on Forton Drive. Aurora Street School became the Aurora Middle School, which included grades seven, eight, and nine. Several additions were made in 1963 including classrooms, the present cafeteria, a new gym and an activity room. The old multipurpose stage-gym was converted into an auditorium, which has also gone through subsequent renovations. Ninth graders began attending the high school in 1970.

In the past decade, Lancaster has experienced a rapid growth in population. To accommodate the increase in enrollment, a new school for grades five and six was built on William Street. The Aurora Middle School now houses students in grades seven and eight."

(from pamphlet for the 75th Anniversary of the Aurora Street School held on March 28, 1998)

Located on a seventeen acre campus, the Aurora Street School opened for the fall semester of 1924. Dedicated on November 21, 1924, the building was constructed by local contractor, Michael Wendel, at a cost of $290,000. Initially, only the rooms at the north end of the structure were used and the south end remained vacant. The Class of 1927 was the first graduating class to spend all four years of high school in this new building. By 1935, there were enough students to require an addition. Other additions were made in 1963 and in 2005.

The original three story building facing Aurora Street was constructed in what is probably most appropriately described as Colonial Revival style. All additions have been made at the rear of the original building due in large measure to the fact that houses on either side have prevented expansion to the north or south. As a result, the eighty-three year old building looks much as it did in the 1920’s, except that windows have been replaced, there are some mature trees on the front lawn now, and Aurora Street is paved with blacktop rather than brick.

It is interesting to observe the advances made in school buildings between this building and the 1903 School Street School (see pages 148 and 149) which also was made of brick, but had wooden floors and stairs as well as wooden doors, window frames and wainscotting. By the 1920’s, fire resistant materials were used throughout school buildings. School Street School closed in June, 1954 after fifty-one years of use. The closing was spurred on by the tragic fire in a nearby Cleveland Hill elementary school annex. Improvements to the Aurora Street building have made the structure even safer.

From 1924 to about 1957, the field behind the original building was the track and football field where many sporting events took place. Most notable, of course, were the varsity football games. With the opening of the new high school and the new football field this came to an end. The area has since been largely taken up by the additions to the original building. Much of the seventeen acre campus is the “flats” which are playing fields bounded by Cayuga Creek to the north and Lake Avenue to the east. These fields are still used by the seventh and eighth grade students who attend the school."(1)

Source

(1) Lancaster, New York, Architecture and History