Utah Heritage Foundation

Robert Gardner designed an innovative new elementary school for Hurricane, Utah in 1954 (left).  Washington County School District closed the building in 2009 and moved Hurricane Elementary into a new facility.

Hmm, what to do with an old school building in the heart of town next to a museum and an art center all surrounded by park-like grounds with mature trees.  The City of Hurricane bought the building intending to demolish it for a new community center, but some people had a better idea, and the city agreed.

Interns from the Rhode Island School of Design working for architect Peter Stempel’s non-profit FormTomorrow made as-built drawings of the school during the summer of 2010.  They also prepared a site master plan showing how the Hurricane Elementary School building could be reused as part of the community center complex (orange figure center right in the illustration below, image courtesy FormTomorrow).

Hurricane Planning Director Toni Foran said the students discovered that the old building had “good bones.”  Not surprising.  Robert Gardner got his architectural training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the early 1940s and brought modernist innovations back to his hometown of Cedar City where he was the only trained architect for many years.  In addition to distinctive schools, commercial buildings and houses throughout Southern Utah, The Gardner Partnership Architects continues as part of his legacy. The Gardner Partnership has an excellent archive with the original drawings on file.

Hurrah to Hurricane for recognizing the value of the Hurricane Elementary School and reusing this historic building as a community gathering place.  As the process now moves from the planning stage to design for an adaptive use, Utah Heritage Foundation urges the city to preserve the school’s historical integrity by hiring a qualified historical architect and following the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards.  UHF commends Hurricane’s leaders, citizens and planning staff for giving future generations a chance to make memories at the historic 1954 Hurricane Elementary School.

UHF’s Central and Southern Utah Field Representative Susan Crook is available to help with the rehabilitation of Hurricane Elementary and other historic buildings from her office in St. George at 435-773-5336, susan@utahheritagefoundation.org

Read more about saving old schools:

Kentucky Reuse Project Has Big Impact in Small Town

Community Centered Schools