Starbuck Middle School (Racine, Wisconsin): Difference between revisions
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In 1858<ref>[http://racinecounty.net/Redding%20and%20Watson/Redding%20and%20Watson.htm "Redding & Watson's Map of Racine County - 1858"], racinecounty.net.</ref> and 1873,<ref>[http://racinecounty.net/1873%20RK%20Map/1873%20RK%20Map.htm "Map of Racine and Kenosha Counties - 1873"], racinecounty.net.</ref> the farm of N. A. Walker comprised the future location of Starbuck Middle School and [[Westgate Mall Shopping Center (Racine, Wisconsin)|Westgate Mall Shopping Center]]. By 1893, Walker's farm was owned by M. George and had been expanded to the south. George's 65-acre property was bounded by what is now [[Washington Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)|Washington Avenue]] on the north, Ohio Street on the east, the [[Racine–Sturtevant Trail]] (formerly the [[Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad]]) on the south, and [[Perry Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)|Perry Avenue]] on the west.<ref>[http://racinecounty.net/East%20End%20Racine%20County/East%20End%20Racine%20County.htm "Map Drawing - East End of Racine County - 1893"], racinecounty.net.</ref> In 1930, this same area was owned by [[J. E. Rowland & Sons]], a local real estate company.<ref>[https://online.flowpaper.com/7695073a/MapBook/#page=5 "Racine County Map Book - 1930"], racinecounty.net.</ref>
By 1950, the Racine Board of Education owned two large plots of land outside the city of Racine that were reserved for future school construction, one on the western side of Ohio Street at [[Sixteenth Street (Racine, Wisconsin)|Sixteenth Street]], and the other west of [[Graceland Cemetery (Racine, Wisconsin)|Graceland Cemetery]] (now the location of [[Goodland Elementary School (Racine, Wisconsin)|Goodland Elementary School]]).<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44187772/the_journal_times/ "Consider School Site on Southwest Side"], [[Racine Journal Times]], November 22, 1950, page eight.</ref> In 1954, with the demographic effects of the "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Boom Baby Boom]" starting to cause overcrowding in Racine's elementary schools, the Board stated that it was planning building a new junior high school either on the Ohio Street site or next to [[Jerstad-Agerholm Elementary School (Racine, Wisconsin)|Jerstad-Agerholm Elementary School]], in time for the expected peak of enrollment at junior high schools in 1961.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44189781/the_journal_times/ "County Eyes Tuition Students' Fate When High Schools Hit Peak in 60's"], [[Racine Journal Times]], January 19, 1954, page four.</ref> The school board later decided that it needed to build both junior high schools to keep up with enrollment figures. It was noted by members of the Board that the 9.2-acre site they had purchased (comprising roughly the southern half of what is now the school property) was likely too small for the junior high school, so in 1958, it began seeking to purchase an undeveloped area to the north, on the southern end of the property of the [[Westgate
[[File:Starbuck Middle School, scale model 1959.png|thumb|A scale model of the school in its planning stages in 1959 shows "(1) music, drama, multipurpose room and administration offices; (2) two-story classroom section; (3) cafeteria, and, to the rear, homemaking and art rooms; (4) physical education with graphic arts, electrical and metals classrooms in foreground, and (5) heating plant."<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44200866/the_journal_times/ "Racine's 6th Junior High School"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 7, 1959, front page.</ref>]]
Spiro J. Papas, owner of the theater, initially agreed to sell the plot to the school board on three conditions: "that the school system never object to the use of his property to the north as a theater or for other commercial purposes, make no attempt to have the theater annexed to the city[,] and would re-sell the plot to him at the sale price, if no school were built on the site by the end of 1963. Only the last restriction remained" by the time the sale was finalized on December 8, 1958, when the plot was purchased from Papas for $27,500. In the same meeting, the school board accepted a proposal by Malcolm Williams, an architect at the [[Warren Holmes Company]] in [[Lansing, Michigan]], for the design of the building.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44192954/the_journal_times/ "School Board Defers Budget Cuts Until Year End Surplus Is Known"], [[Racine Journal Times]], December 9, 1958, page four.</ref> In March 1959, the school board decided to name the new school after Frank R. Starbuck, longtime publisher of the [[Racine Journal Times]], who had died in 1951.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44193774/the_journal_times/ "New Junior High to Be Named Frank R. Starbuck School"], [[Racine Journal Times]], March 10, 1959, front page.</ref> Voters in the nearby [[Mygatts Corners School (Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin)|Mygatts Corners School]] and [[Trautwein School (Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin)|Trautwein School]] districts opposed efforts in 1959 to expand or renovate their own facilities, in part because the construction of Starbuck signaled that their districts would soon be consolidated with the Racine Board of Education.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44198428/the_journal_times/ "Pressure for Consolidation"], [[Racine Journal Times]], April 2, 1959, page 18.</ref>
On May 9, 1960, the Board of Education awarded $2,227,758 in contracts for Starbuck's construction. [[Nelsen & Co. (Racine, Wisconsin)|Nelsen & Co.]] was hired as the general contractor, [[Wenninger Company]] of [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin]] was hired as the heating contractor, and [[Magaw Electric Company]] and [[Advance Plumbing Company (Racine, Wisconsin)|Advance Plumbing Company]] received the other two contracts. The Board had hoped that Starbuck would open in the fall of 1961, to relieve overcrowding at [[Mitchell Middle School (Racine, Wisconsin)|Mitchell
[[File:Starbuck Middle School under construction, 1960.png|thumb|left|An annotated photograph of the Starbuck construction site in December 1960, as seen from the [[Perry Avenue Water Tower (Racine, Wisconsin)|Perry Avenue Water Tower]].<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44214982/the_journal_times/ "Starbuck School Takes Shape", [[Racine Journal Times]], December 11, 1960, page six.</ref>]]
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