We have known for some time that the John C. Chorley Elementary School (1964-1969) on a sloping site in Middletown NY was showing signs of age but talks with the Principal a year ago reinforced the community's love for the building and calmed fears of demolition. Then came the baby boom:
THE TIMES HERALD-RECORD
In theory, the district would demolish Chorley and build a bigger school for students who would have gone to Chorley and Truman Moon.
An Alum, who is currently pursuing his Masters at the Harvard Graduate School of Design tipped us off that there would be a vote this Thursday, December 18th. To see the referendum items, follow:
THE TIMES HERALD-RECORD
In light of his career choice, its amusing to read current Principal's December Newsletter:
There is a very important referendum vote coming up on Dec. 18 regarding the construction of a new “Chorley.” This vote will have a major impact on your children’s future education as the present Chorley building is no longer a viable structure. The cost of upgrading the present structure will be comparable to the same amount of money to construct a new building.
I know at least one kid at the GSD (Paul Rudolph's own Grad School) who might agree: why yes, not attending Chorley would have impacted his future education...perhaps he wouldn't have pursued architecture?
Chorley was built along a strong spine, with low profile, and a library for a heart.
When first completed, the Architectural Record reported:
Inside and out, the school demonstrates the sense of surprise, the seeming complexity but essential simplicity, and the three-dimensionality that mark so much of Rudolph's work
At that time, construction costs (with site work, construction, mechanicals, carpet, furnishings and equipment for the building and 27 acre site) were around $1.9 Million. In today's dollars, tax payers are looking at two proposals; proposition 1 which allows for a 19 acre land grab at a cool $2.61M and proposition 2 which calls for over $63M and a whole new school.
As things are still very early, (and rather uncertain considering that none of the referendum points call for demolition), let's cautiously watch the school board's decision next Thursday, and all plan a visit:
J. W. Chorley Elementary
50 Roosevelt Avenue
Middletown, NY 10940
Please consider sending a letter or email in support of saving the building. The contacts for the Board of Education are:
Middletown Board of Education
223 Wisner Avenue
Middletown, NY 10940
Phone: (845) 326-1130
Fax: (845) 326-1225
Dr. Nicholas Mauro, President
Lynne Perkins, Vice President
William Geiger
Evelyn Isseks
Linda Knapp
Barbara Martinez
Roy Paul
John Perrino
Rose Tobiassen
Superintendent
Dr. Kenneth W. Eastwood - keastwood@ecsdm.org
Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds
Thomas Scott - tscott@ecsdm.org
John W. Chorley Elementary School
50 Roosevelt Avenue
Middletown, NY 10940
Phone: (845) 341-5241
Fax: (845) 342-1925
Principal
Frederick H. Griffin - fgriffin@ecsdm.org
Assistant Principal
Ivette Figueroa - ifigueroa@escdm.org
Please note, the Middletown School District is in Orange County. The county government has been threatening to demolish the Orange County Government Center for nearly 8 years.
If you have any further news or details, please email us at information@paulrudolph.org Thanks!
Posts
3 comments:
I wonder how many Chorley students went on to become architects...I did!
I went to Chorley in the 70's; the open classrooms were nice but it was somewhat noisy. Also, it was not intuitive the weird stairs in the cafeteria. In general, I would say I liked the wings of the school. The little asphalt coves outside each classroom always smelled and teachers could not see in them easily to see what was going on.
I was there for most of the 70's as well. I may have helped make the open classrooms noisy - but I loved them.
I also enjoyed the odd run of the stairs - from tthe principal's office, through the cafeteria and up into grades 5 & 6 wing.
The spaces outside the classrooms never worked well and the building leaked like crazy.
The park setting was much better than the play pits at memorial school though.
Post a Comment