Fairmont Senior High School - National Register

National Register

On March 22, 2002 Fairmont Senior High School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Architect William B. Ittner, who is responsible for over three dozen entries in the National Register, designed the school in the late 1920s. He was prominent in St. Louis, Missouri where his firm Ittner Architects still operates.

The school's architectural classification is Colonial Revival, with a stone foundation, brick walls, and asphalt shingle roofing. Materials were provided by the local Smallwood Low Stone Company. Excavation began on January 26, 1928, by the builders D. J. Phipps of Roanoke, Virginia, and the building was finished just over a year later on April 1, 1929, with a total cost of approximately $574,000. The main building originally possessed 33 classrooms, and could comfortably accommodate 900 students. Plans were included to expand the building should the student population increase.

Fairmont Senior possesses many unique features that fortify its historic nature. The open light court or "senior court" is bound on all sides by interior walls of the school, but is not constrained by a ceiling. The opening provides sunlight to the surrounding halls and classrooms, as well as the small glass greenhouse located just inside the court. In 1929, the first class to graduate from the building presented the school with a statue of Abraham Lincoln that still stands outside of senior court.

The school also possessed a central ventilation system that provided fresh air to the classrooms and featured two chimneys that can still be seen from the exterior of the building. This system was later closed off due to fire codes. Another notable contribution are the eight tiled water fountain backsplashes. Each displays a different scene and contains the original tiles used in its creation.

The auditorium originally housed 1107 opera style chairs and a 16 by 50-foot (15 m) wooden stage. Later, when the stage was expanded, the first four rows of seating were removed leaving 976 seats. By the start of the 20th century, many of the seats were in poor condition and needed to be replaced. To preserve the historic nature of one of the school's greatest attributes, the 1000 Voices fund was established to restore the auditorium to its original state. In 2001 the seats were dismantled and sent away to be completely refurbished and reinstalled into the auditorium. Intricate details such as the gold leaf ribbons on the house lighting globes was also preserved, as well as detailed paintings on the proscenium arch.

Other structures also contribute to the school's historic nature. A small single arch concrete bridge crosses a stream that divides the campus; a stone wall approximately 100 feet (30 m) in length runs along the back of the school; and two brick gate posts stand at the entrance of the campus.