The Catholic Bulletin - August 30, 1913

ST. JAMES PAROCHIAL SCHOOL

Formal opening September 1 — constructed according to best modern ideas — light, heat and ventilation features.

The parochial school of St. James, corner View and Randolph streets, St. Paul, will be formally opened for inspection on Labor Day, Monday, September 1. This event will be the central feature in the celebration of the silver jubilee of the parish which was first organized in 1888. The school has just been completed at a cost of $30,000 from plans and specifications prepared by architect, E. J. Donohue. It is a brick structure two stories in height above the basement. The walls are of chocolate colored pressed brick laid in colored mortar joints and with trimmings of cut Bedford lime-stone.

The building stands on a solid rock quarry and beneath the basement floor there is a layer of crushed rock ten inches in thickness. This serves to drain off the waters of the springs in the surrounding beds of rock thus keeping the basement walls and floor thoroughly dry and wholesome.

The school faces View Street standing back about thirty feet from the sidewalk. A broad cement walk leads from the street to the building. A flight of stone steps fourteen feet wide with a landing of the same width and flanked by a solid brick buttresses forms the approach to the main entrance. Above the front doors are five paneled windows and the name stone over these panels presents a large smooth surface of Bedford stone with the name of the school in deeply carved lettering.

The Main Floor
From the main entrance one may reach the main floor or the basement, two side flights of steps beneath the landing leading downward to the basement. On the main floor the front door opens from a small vestibule finished in oak with marble base board and terrazzo floor. From this the door to the right leads to an inside basement stairway and the one to the left opens upon the main corridor which extends directly through the building to the rear entrance. This corridor is well lighted from the large glass panels at both ends. The floor is terrazzo with base board of Kasota marble.

There are four class rooms on the main floor, two on each side of the corridor and all four similar in construction and arrangement. Each room is twenty-four feet wide and thirty feet long. It is finished in oak and lighted from one side where five large windows give a lighting area equal to one-fifth of the floor space of the room. The seats are so arranged that the light comes from the left of the children. The blackboards are all of genuine slate. The cloak room extends along one side of the class room and is connected with it by two doors, one used as entrance and the other as exit. At one end of the classroom there is a combination wardrobe and locker for the use of the teacher. The system of heating is that known as the direct-indirect steam heat. The radiators are so situated beneath the windows of the class room that they form no obstruction. Fresh air directly from the outside is conducted into a specially designed radiator which will provide for each pupil, a supply per minute, of thirty-two cubic feet of fresh air heated to the temperature of the room.

The Second Floor
The second floor is reached by two stairways, one at each end of the corridor. The arrangement on the floor is that of a large parish hall in two sections each of which is thirty feet wide and sixty feet long. The lighting, heating and ventilation, however, are so designed that the hall may be easily be transformed into four class rooms similar to those on the first floor when the change is needed to accommodate a larger number of pupils. For the present the four class rooms on the first floor and the hall on the second will best suit the needs of the parish.

The floors of both hall and class rooms are of reinforced concrete, overlaid with a single layer of maple. The other woodwork throughout the building is of oak. It is treated with a brown acid stain which makes decoration easy. The walls are finished in hard plaster which can be washed without defacement.

The basement floor is only six feet below the ground level. An equal height above the ground gives abundant space for the windows which admit an ample supply of light. A central corridor divides the basement into two sections. In the southern
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The Chapel
The north half of the basement is occupied by the chapel which is 30 feet in width and 60 feet in length. There are no pillars or other obstruction of any kind in this pleasant, roomy hall. The ceilings which is 12 feet high, is supported by re-enforced concrete girders. The windows on three sides give an abundance of light.

The equipment throughout the building is of the best quality, and no expense was spared in securing everything needful for the convenience of pupils and teachers. The interior arrangements are according to the best scientific ideas, carefully worked out to suit local conditions.

The exterior walls of the building are ornamented with tile inserts of a sober green hue, harmonizing well with the chocolate colored brick which is laid in artistic panel designs. Beyond this there is no unnecessary decoration and the building stands out in pleasing simplicity. A stone cross surmounting the center pediment denotes the religious character of the school.

The pastor of St. James parish, Reverend Jeremiah 0'Connor, expects a large registration at the opening of the school term next Tuesday. He is well pleased with the co-operation of the parishioners in this splendid enterprise and both priest and people may well be congratulated on the possession of the fine school with the opening of which they celebrate the silver jubilee of the parish.