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Phillis Wheatley School

Demolished
  • International Style
  • Identity of Building/Site
  • History of Building/Site

Phillis Wheatley School

Credit

World Monuments Fund

Site overview

The former Phillis Wheatley Elementary School stood out as a modern glass-and-steel building floating above Creole cottages and Victorian shotgun houses of the Tremé/Lafitte neighborhood of New Orleans. In 1954, the architect Charles Colbert constructed an elevated cantilevered steel truss structure to provide an expansive shaded playground area, protecting the schoolchildren from the tropical climate. Progressive for a school facility at the time, the building was critically acclaimed and its design was exhibited internationally. The building was a valuable example of regional modernism in a city most noted for its 18th- and 19th-century architecture. Though the school did not flood during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Orleans Parish School Board shuttered the building, with decay and vandalism taking their toll on the striking statement of modern design. Despite a spirited public advocacy campaign to restore the building, Phillis Wheatley Elementary School was demolished in June 2011, against expressions of support for preservation from the Society of Architectural Historians and the disapproval of New Orleans’ Historic District Landmarks Commission. (Adapted from the World Monuments Fund website)

Location

2300 Dumaine Street
New Orleans, LA, 70119

Country

US

Case Study House No. 21

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Credit:

World Monuments Fund

Designer(s)

Other designers

Charles Colbert

Related News

THREATENED: Phillis Wheatley Elementary School, New Orleans

Threatened

February 28, 2008

Phillis Wheatley Elementary, New Orleans

Endangered

October 21, 2009

ALERT: Petition to save the Phillis Wheatley Elementary School

Threatened

March 24, 2011

6 Major Mid-Century Modern Losses in New Orleans

Newsletter, Lost, Publication

May 11, 2017

Related chapter

New Orleans/Louisiana

Related Sites

Completion

1954

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