Alameda High School (Alameda, California)

 theatre, Neoclassical (architecture), NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, high school, 1903_construction

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Alameda High School
2200 Central Avenue
Alameda, CA

(Due to satellite imagery angle, polygon is approximate)

The cornerstone was laid in 1902 on the new site at Central and Walnut. The building was dedicated in 1903 and occupied in time for the December 1903 term.

Continued growth in enrollment required an even larger campus. In 1925 a new bond issue was voted on. The new school, dedicated in 1926, comprised three connected buildings, including the original 1903 structure which was refurbished to blend with the architectural style of the other two. The architecture, designed by local architect Carl Werner, is early-twentieth-century Neoclassical in nature, evoking images of ancient Greek temples with Ionic columns in front of the Kofman Auditorium, a facility known throughout the Bay Area as one of the best of the local playhouses.

By 1955, the ‘old building' had outlived its usefulness and was replaced with what became known as the ‘new building' by subsequent students until 1977.

Campaigns to replace old public buildings with newer earthquake-safe structures led to the construction of the newest high school building, across the street from the established campus, on Encinal at Walnut.

Original plans involved tearing down the 1926 buildings and replacing them with a sports complex, the only building to be kept being the ‘new building' of 1955. A dedicated group of alumni and citizens saved the venerable buildings and the planned new construction was scaled back to what exists today.

The newest building was first occupied in 1978 and included the site of the former Porter school. At present, the office of the Alameda Unified School District reside in the Kofman Buildings. The west wing now houses Language and Fine Arts, as well as the Frederick L. Chacon Little Theater. The school was made an Alameda Historical Monument in 1976 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

aus.alamedausd.ca.schoolloop.com/

National Register of Historic Places # 77000280