John Shearer: An Architectural Look At Threatened Alpine Crest, Clifton Hills, DuPont, Hixson, And Rivermont Elementaries

  • Friday, September 1, 2023
  • John Shearer

As many Chattanoogans know, Hamilton County Schools officials on Aug. 17 unveiled a $200 million, seven-year proposal to close some schools and send students to other campuses, where new construction, additions and remodeling will take place.

As a result, several mid-century and historic school buildings are scheduled to be closed.

School and county officials have cited as reasoning for the potential steps such facts as overdue maintenance needs of existing buildings and that the system probably has too many buildings for its number of overall students. Updated or new buildings are also a priority to help the county offer better quality in a general academic sense, too.

Part of the plan involves consolidating three of the following four neighborhood schools — Alpine Crest, DuPont, Hixson, and Rivermont elementaries — to build a new and larger elementary for that South Hixson part of town where the current DuPont Elementary is.

On Wednesday, a Red Bank community meeting attended by numerous interested citizens and elected and appointed officials was held, with many citizens criticizing plans to close Alpine Crest on the northern end of Red Bank, according to news reports.

Also as part of the long-term plan, a new Soddy Daisy Middle School is set to be built on the Soddy Daisy High School campus, and Dalewood Middle School in Brainerd would be combined wth the nearby Brainerd High School in a joint campus facility at Brainerd. And Clifton Hills Elementary just off Rossville Boulevard would be closed.

The mid-century Center for Creative Arts, and the pre-World War II Upper and Lower Normal Park campuses – all within a few hundred yards of each other in North Chattanooga -- might also be vacated, the report said.

These proposals would mean that the current DuPont Elementary facility would likely be torn down, and the others would have questionable futures simply as older structures that are possibly no longer school buildings.

Most people certainly understand the need for better overall public school facilities. But those who not only appreciate history but well-done historic architecture as well likely hope, too, that all the closed schools can be saved and put to some other use, even if not as school campuses.

Of the mid-century buildings, all are uniquely diverse and seemingly distinctive examples of architecture from that unusual time of construction in Chattanooga. And different architects were involved with each of the several structures rather than one firm doing them all.

Their diverse look among each other is a contrast to the plans for the old Soddy Daisy, Red Bank, Tyner, and Hixson schools that came out in the New Deal era of the late 1930s and resulted in buildings with somewhat similar, but-still-nice looks of classic school construction.

The mid-century buildings threatened with being closed feature everything from zig-zag lines of covered walkways or roofs to lots of classroom windows from the era when plenty of natural light was considered a healthy feature of an educational building on people. And one of the threatened buildings was even the first building in the old Chattanooga City Schools system to be round.

While they are considered old in age now, these mid-century structures were once new and modern and unique. And as a late Baby Boomer myself, who is close to the same age as the structures, I feel personally connected to these buildings that came along when futuristic was the norm as America was initially embarking on the space age.

And as someone who spent most of my growing-up years in Hixson, I have also seen many of them for decades, and they seem like old brick and mortar friends, even though I did not attend any of them.

For this story, I am highlighting a little history and architecture of Alpine Crest, Clifton Hills, DuPont, Hixson, and Rivermont elementaries, with a focus on some of the others in an upcoming story. I also over the weekend and with no one around other than two adults taking walks through Alpine Crest took some accompanying pictures of the outsides of the buildings.

I had actually written a story in 2019 on Rivermont, DuPont and Alpine Crest elementaries when talk of combining all three into a new campus at DuPont had already been in the news for at least two or three years. So, I am pulling back out some basic information I had initially researched for that story here, while realizing Hixson Elementary has since been added to this consolidation talk.

I had gone back by the downtown Chattanooga Public Library Saturday morning to look up some more information I did not previously have, and I decided to swing by Clifton Hills Elementary afterward on my way back to my Northgate area home.

Clifton Hills opened in the early part of 1968 when the school year was more than half over. It was designed by architect Earl Smith – father of noted local historic preservationist Andy Smith -- and was built by T&C Construction to replace the previous Clifton Hills a block southwest. The latter had been badly damaged by a fire in 1966.

Clifton Hills was to feature a uniquely round building for 20 classrooms and central materials center and was to be the first round building in the city schools. The county schools were also building round schools, including Hixson High, which opened in 1966, and later Central High and others.

I once found some information that said round buildings for whatever reason could be built more cheaply than square ones. The flying saucer and “Star Trek” craze and the space race of the 1960s might have likely been a factor, too.

The circular part also uniquely had large instructional areas with classrooms for three sections of each grade, but with smaller areas that could be partitioned off or used for small group teaching.

The structure also uniquely called for an overhanging rectangular wing with a cafeteria on top and a covered open area immediately below it that could have uniquely been used in a variety of ways. The cafeteria was also slightly more elevated than the enclosed commons area also upstairs, and one could use the east side of the cafeteria as a stage.

The structure also had another first besides being round. It was also the first city school with wall-to-wall carpet when that was starting to be the educational flooring craze.

The school, located at 1815 E. 32nd St. a block east of Rossville Boulevard not long after one exits the interstate and heads south, was officially opened in March 1968. In one dedication photo, principal Wiley Rhoton tried out the new intercom system, while Supt. Dr. Charles E. Martin watched.

After I took some pictures there Saturday, I went home for a while, but Saturday afternoon, I went by Rivermont and DuPont elementaries while out running an errand. For Rivermont, the 4 p.m. hour was a perfect time to get a picture of the school with the sun perfectly at my back on the other side of Hixson Pike and lighting up all the colorful murals.

The original part of Rivermont close to the street had opened in 1954 and was initially designed by Harrison Gill and Associates. When the original part opened before a subsequent addition or two, it originally had the large glass windows on the classrooms facing Hixson Pike. They were later covered up, perhaps due to energy or brightness issues.

But with mostly covered walls that looked quite bland, someone or some group has ingeniously painted some murals over the walls in recent years outlining such themes as STEAM – science, technology, engineering, arts, and math – and references to reading and writing. The painting work itself likely deserves a stand-alone story, if it has not been done already.

The school also features the unique mid-century brickwork pattern with holes both in the school sign and a wall by the entrance.

Although on the same side of Hixson Pike as Rivermont, DuPont Elementary sits at a little different angle. So, when I got there just a few minutes after being at Rivermont, the sun was not perfectly on the other side of Hixson Pike, so I had to take some pictures of DuPont’s front from a sharper angle. This time of year, closer to sundown is the better time of year to get a picture of the front of that school with a little backlighting.

The original part of DuPont along the front opened in 1959. It had been designed by architect James G. Gauntt and built by T.U. Parks. Except for maybe a lot of windows here – some of which on the back were later covered like at Rivermont, minus any murals – this building does not have that definite mid-century modern look like the other schools being profiled in this story.

It has some glass brick, some diamond patterns on the brick on the south end, and even a curved entrance area, which combined make it all almost like an industrial style building of a couple of decades earlier. The building is also unique – and a little bit of an illusion – in that six classrooms sit on one side of the entrance and five on the other.

And hats off to whomever has painted the large map of the United States on the back parking and driveway area of the school.

The campus also has a lot of space, including a triangular-shaped grassy and wooded area that provides a nice respite in a sea of asphalt for passing motorists. The large space and perhaps central location might be one reason it has been pinpointed as the space for a new school.

I am not sure where they would put the new school there, and I apologize if that is already in plans available to the public. Tree huggers certainly hope the pretty wooded area is not ripped up with the promise that new landscaping will be put in its place.

I had actually played tee ball in about the mid-1960s on the wood-surrounded DuPont field across the ditch from the school building – and played baseball a year or so later on the current playground by Rivermont Elementary near Carter Drive. I noticed just in the last year that the old backstop at DuPont was removed, causing a sentimental end of an era for me.

As one who likes to jog on grass, these days I also jog some around DuPont’s campus on the weekends or summers. That is when no one is there other than maybe someone playing on the outdoor basketball court, where County Mayor Weston Wamp and other county and school officials held the press conference unveiling the plan on Aug. 17.

I have seen during those times in recent months at DuPont a young deer that was apparently lost and had looked to me for guidance before it realized it could cross Hixson Pike where there was no fence at the automobile entrance. And while jogging around the school a few Sunday mornings before church back around June, I noticed the same apparently homeless person sleeping there under the curved and covered front entrance for three or so weekends in a row. He or she was catching some Z’s instead of learning the ABC’s, and I certainly felt for the person.

I realize saving the current DuPont school might be hard with new construction planned, but it has been an important architectural and historical element for Chattanooga. Its razing, as would any potential demolitions of other school buildings after they are closed, would mean the end of an era for countless alumni who have had a tangible and hopefully nostalgic reminder of their childhood, or even adults who once sent their children there.

The DuPont campus also uniquely has a walkway over busy Hixson Pike, and I am old enough to remember when the walkway was over Access Road.

I was also wondering if the DuPont name would remain for any new consolidated school.

Sunday morning when I rose out of bed to take a jog, I decided to go by Alpine Crest Elementary and exercise on their expansive grass instead of running at DuPont and other places I often go. Of the five schools being featured in this story, it is the only one that is truly a neighborhood school in that it is off a side road hundreds of yards from a main thoroughfare.

You get there via Stagg Road off Appian Way, which can be accessed from Dayton Boulevard on one end and Delashmitt Road on the other. Once there, I parked my car and ran on the grass of the unique lower field surrounded by a track.

In a manner similar to wondering whether the chicken or the egg came first, I have pondered what person or persons came up with these Alpine-like names. Was it a creative school official, or a developer who also thought of the names of such other nearby streets as Heidi Circle and Antelope Trail.

It was likely inspired by this part of Red Bank’s hilly location near a crest. Regardless, I would love to know, as this seems to be maybe the most random-but-nice name for a school locally. Space for a school was likely set aside as part of the overall development, as the older homes appear to have been built at close to the same time that the school first opened.

Alpine Crest had opened in 1957 in time for school, which began on Aug. 26 of that year, earlier than around Labor Day when many Baby Boomers remember starting school.

I could not find any information on the architect, but I did locate that the Selmon T. Franklin firm entered into an agreement to do the second descending wing on the south side closer to the school’s wooded playground about 1962. And since that part looks similar to the first part, perhaps the Franklin firm still in existence did the original school.

Alpine Crest has to be one of the more uniquely designed mid-century schools in Hamilton County, as it takes advantage of being on a hillside, and the classrooms sit like giant stairsteps and are on multiple levels. Seeing some of the more current construction in Chattanooga, where hills are removed and giant retaining walls are put in place, I wonder if the construction of the school would have been done the same today.

Of course, it does require climbing steps!

Alpine Crest also has plenty of space around it, with a forested hillside behind it and that is used by the school, a large and wooded playground and the lower field as mentioned, another large and fenced baseball/softball field, and protected woods on the front side. It is like a school within a park.

Adding to this feel are some flowers planted in numerous beds and a greenhouse. How many elementary schools can say they have that?

I arrived there right as the sun was coming up Sunday morning, and I saw two different people making a trek through the school grounds as part of their morning walk. So, it obviously connects to the neighborhood and is an important part of the community after school hours, too.

On the way home Sunday morning, I went by Hixson Elementary, which is just 100 yards or so on the north side of Highway 153 off Winding Lane.

It sits above a nice-sized and large open field and playground and appears to have multiple wings, with perhaps one added in the back in later years from what I remember. Like a lot of mid-century modern structures, it features a zig-zag roofline on the building on the right as one looks at the entrance, and the same pattern on the covered breezeway or covering to the left.

The lines look like charts of the stock market in recent weeks!

The building also has green and slick subway-style outdoor tile on the outside to go with the tannish brick. It also features a unique inner courtyard covered in grass.

Hixson Elementary was opened in 1961 – the height of the mid-century modern architectural movement – and was designed by Butler & Wilhoite (Howard Butler and Louis Wilhoite) and constructed by C&I Specialty Co. A 1996 obituary found on Mr. Wilhoite said he was actually more of an engineer. The obituary also made me realize I went to Baylor a few years behind Mr. Wilhoite’s son, Dr. Scott Wilhoite, and I later reconnected with him in Knoxville while living there.

Hixson Elementary – which, like Alpine Crest, has a nice, wooded area around it, although it is fenced off from the general public -- was constructed because that part of town was starting to grow at that time as Chattanooga was becoming more suburban. The old elementary facility where the Hixson Community Center is now was way overcrowded, according to then-Supt. Sam McConnell in an old article.

Like the three other schools that might be consolidated at the DuPont site, they saw growth and needs for expansion during the first years they were open as Chattanooga was growing in that direction.

While Rivermont has remained near the very popular residential area of Stuart Heights and Carter Drive, I live in the Cloverdale area near Highway 153 and Hixson Pike in a center point between the other three and have noticed more younger couples moving nearby in recent years.

So, maybe these schools might see a growth of students from families wanting residences besides those close to downtown or in the just-now-developing suburbs of Ooltewah, Soddy Daisy and East Brainerd.

The community will also have to wrestle with losing the smaller schools in place of newer ones with probably larger enrollments. The battles between financial efficiency and sense of community are always being weighed by school officials everywhere when determining how big the schools should be.

And one can also wonder what will happen to these local school buildings if they are closed. While DuPont would likely be torn down, the others could be converted to other uses. They could become condominiums while retaining the outer walls of the old schools, or they might be the sites of private schools looking for better space, with minimal changes other than in the pipes, wires, and vents. Or they might sit idle for a long time or be torn down, as has happened to other local schools after they have been closed.

These are all decisions that might be harder to make than the academic ones regarding reading, writing and arithmetic questions that have taken place by the students inside the rooms of the buildings over the years.

One fact for sure, though, is that these structures have been important fabrics of the Chattanooga and Hamilton County community – educationally, architecturally, historically, and culturally.

* * *

To see the initial story on the plan for the school facilities, read here.

https://www.chattanoogan.com/2023/8/17/473415/Officials-Unveil-Bold-New-Plan-For.aspx

* * *

jcshearer2@comcast.net

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