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A joint meeting of the St. Helens Chamber of Commerce, the directors of School District No.2 and the city council decided to go ahead with the project of building a high school in St. Helens. It was felt that the large St. Helens vote of 45 for and 51 against, on the union high school issue indicated a realization of the need for a new school.
Harold Beaver, Astoria architect, submitted a plan for a 36 x 150 foot two-story building with eleven rooms, an auditorium, and several small rooms. The building was to be of concrete construction, and it was estimated the cost would be about $36,000. It was planned that another unit could be added on when necessary. Six other architects submitted plans but the directors accepted those of Beaver.
On April 25, 1925 the voters approved by a vote of 154 to 23, a $41,500 bond issue for construction of a new high school.
The city council passed Emergency Ordinance No. 3339 which deeded Washington Square to District No. 2 to be used for school purposes or revert to the city. The county fair board made plans for moving the fair building from that area to Deer Island.
When the bids were opened for construction of the building they were all in the neighborhood of seven thousand dollars over the amount bonded. The architect conferred with the two contractors submitting the lowest bids as to what changes could be made in the plans without sacrificing good workmanship and materials and the auditorium was deleted from the plans.
The contract was awarded on July 13, 1925 to Rohaut and Gerhart, Astoria whose bid was $30,126. Other contracts awarded to local firms were $1,400 to Heacock and Haniff for wiring and lighting, $1,100 to Harry Lowe for painting and decorating. The contracts called for completion in four months time.
It was decided to locate the building near the southwest corner of Washington Square where the slope of the ground would make it easier to construct a basement, and excavation for the boiler room was begun by McKie and Anderson, of St. Helens on July 27, 1925. The completed building was 170 feet long on the front side, with a 98 foot extension, so that it was "l" shaped and the total cost was about $48,000.
The directors decided to cut expenses by leaving the south side of the building "rustic" since plans were for a future addition on that side.
The new building was dedicated on January 31, 1926 with the ceremonies jointly conducted by Columbia Post 42, American Legion, and Avon Lodge 62, Knights of Pythias. The P.T.A. sponsored a house-warming and building inspection of February 11, 1926.
Four rooms were incomplete when the classes moved in. These were the manual training, cooking, music and art rooms, and the physics laboratory. The manual training classes finished the ceiling and floor or their classrooms as their first project.
Auditorium & Gymnasium Addition
The St. Helens Mist announced that the school board had decided in May 1927 to call for a vote on a twenty thousand dollar bond issue for building an auditorium-gymnasium addition to the high school. The crowd of eighth graders at the "Welcome into High School'' and the high school graduation exercises had overflowed the John Gumm auditorium, so that the board felt that people realized the need for better facilities. However, the bond issue on June 20th failed by a vote of 96 for and 114 against.
There had been a misunderstanding as to the purpose of the bond issue, as many people considered twenty thousand dollars too much for a "playshed," and a new election was scheduled for August 1, 1927. This time the bonds were approved 132 to 111, and the opposition threatened to recall the school board.
J.E. Doughty, well-known for his work on many other local buildings, drew up the plans. The contract for the auditorium gymnasium was awarded to G.E. La Salle of Gladstone, Oregon for $21, 625 and included a chimney and balcony. La Salle agreed to complete the construction in ninety days. The plumbing contract was awarded to J.G. Strait, St. Helens for $806.40. Hastorf and Lord, of Portland contracted the heating for $7,133; Portland General Electric received the lighting contract for $760. The total cost of the addition was $30,324.
This auditorium progressed slowly, but the roof was on by the end of January 1928. The auditorium had a thirty-six by twenty foot stage, and a basketball court forty by seventy-three feet, with shower and dressing rooms built below the stage. Opera seats were installed under the balcony, and the addition of collapsible chairs in the basketball court could bring the seating capacity up to one thousand. There were two outside entrances on the west and one on the east.
The dedication of the auditorium was held on April 9, 1928. The Kiwanis Club was in charge of the program, which featured B.F. Irvine, editor of the the Oregon Journal as principal speaker. J.E. Doughty architect, and G. A. LaSalle, contractor, were complimented on the effective simplicity of the proscenium arch, ornamented only by decorative pillars on each side of the opening. A dark maroon stage curtain had been provided, but other stage properties were to be purchased by the student body. A brief address was delivered by Glen R. Metsker, President of the Kiwanis club, which sponsored the program. C. D. Sutherland, Chairman of the school board, made the formal presentation of the building. Acceptance was by H. R. Ferrin, Superintendent of city schools and Harry Ketel, President of the student body.
First on the program was a piano trio played by Misses Maxine Rau, Aimee Sten and Betty Day. Invocation was delivered by Rev. W. A. Mulder. The high school girls glee club sang in chorus "Indian Dawn" and "Fallen Leaf." with Miss Bertha King as director
Large dinner event in the auditorium, unknown date
Music Room Addition
A two-story annex, costing about three thousand dollars, was added behind the gymnasium at the high school. The addition was twenty-nine by thirty-two feet, and the first floor contained dressing room space for both girls and boys, while the second floor music and band room was reached from back-stage and left the gymnasium for full-time P.E. activities. Stairways were built from the main floor of the gym to the balcony, and an outside entrance added to permit use of the auditorium without opening the rest of the building. The solid railing around the balcony was replaced with one of pipe, the high school offices were redesigned, and a sidewalk was built to the shop building, J.E. Doughty of St. Helens designed the addition and modifications.
West wing addition on the right of the picture above the parked cars.
Much of the information on this page was extracted from a 1961 Masters thesis by Marguerite N. Egelston "A History of the School Comprising School District 502C, St. Helens, Oregon."
West Wing Addition
The high school building had a reasonable capacity to accommodate 250 students, but the enrollment in 1939 was 434. In November the Sentinel-Mist announced that the school board had decided to ask for a bond election to build a new wing on the west side of the gym. This was to be a six-classroom wing of two stories and a basement, and was to house classes in mathematics, social science, home economics, bookkeeping, and art. There were two minor rooms at the stair landings for special activities of the school.
An account of the informal dedication of the new wing at the high school, which was held on September 6, 1940, was published in the Sentinel-Mist. The general contract, for $22,726, had been awarded to a G. N. Buckler. Sub-contracts for lights, heat and paint brought the total construction cost to $28,000. A two-way communication system cost an additional $1,500 and 250 new lockers cost $1,500. A special feature of the new English and Social Science classrooms was an individual library alcove for reference books necessary for the particular subject carried on in the room. In addition to the six classrooms, the new wing contained dressing rooms, laundry and a little theater in the basement. The older portion of the building was remodeled to provide a separate room for meetings and a library. Altogether the total for the addition and modifications was about $40,000.
More Renovations
During the summer of 1954 the little theater in the high school was divided into classrooms, and the dressing rooms rearranged.
Remodeling at the Junior High School began in May 1958, and was done by the Bickford Construction Company of Portland.
An open house at the renovated junior high school building was held during National Education Week in November 1958.
Condon Elementary School
Following conversion to an elementary school in 1964, modification of the building continued to accommodate increasing numbers of students and additional classes and services. The arts and crafts room was converted into a double or team teaching classroom. The wood shop was used by the Junior High as an extension of its shop facilities, for small engines, electricity and metals work. A relocatable classroom was added in 1975 due to the transfer of some upper grade pupils. Also, the old stage located in the basement next to the north end of the lunch room was remodeled for needed offices for the speech therapists and school nurse.
Ultimately the building was demolished and replaced with the current Lewis and Clark School. In 1999, The Spotlight described the transition: "The last year for the old Condon Elementary School building is proving to be the school's most difficult year ever.
That's because of the St. Helens School District's new two-school building which will replace Condon and John Gumm schools when it's completed next summer. The facility which is being built in front of the existing Condon structure, has taken away almost all of the school's playgrounds, caused some parking problems and forced school official to develop a new class schedule to accommodate all of the students' out-of-classroom needs."
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