Inspection of schoolhouse at Lyons, Greene County, Indiana 1908

Inspection of schoolhouse at Lyons, Greene County, Indiana, March 20, 1908, by G. R. Coffin. George Carpenter, township trustee, Lyons, R. R. No. 1:

Site.—The school building is located in the eastern part of the village. The site is a favorable one. The grounds are about one acre in size.

Approaches.—The approaches to the building are good.

Building.—The building is a two-story brick, containing six rooms and hallways. The foundation is of stone. The roof is a shingle one. The walls are cracked in various places and are held together by a great many iron rods. The building consists of an old part containing four rooms, and a new part containing two rooms. The various rooms are heated by stoves, and there is no means of ventilation except by the windows and doors. The lighting is poor, the windows bring so placed as to give crossed rays of light. The walls, ceilings and floors were clean.

Hallways.—There is a lower and an upper hall at the front of the old part. The dimensions of the respective halls are 15 by 25 feet. Small cloakrooms are cut off at each of the ends of the halls. A stairway leads from the lower to the upper hall. It is four feet wide up to the first landing, where it is divided into two stairways, each two feet in width, which lead to the upper hall. There is a lower and an upper hall between the old and the new parts of the building. These halls are respectively 14 by 28 feet in dimension. The east end of the upper hall is partitioned and used for a high school recitation room. This room is crowded with chairs for the pupils. A stairway, three feet wide, leads from the lower to the upper hall and lands at the door of this recitation room. The above arrangement would very likely produce disastrous results in case of a fire, as the other upper rooms open into this recitation room as a means of exit.

Primary room.—The primary room is located in the lower part of (he east end of the old part of the building. Its dimensions are 24 by 30 feet. It Is lighted by five windows, each 2 by 6 feet in lighting space. Four windows are in the east wall and one window is in the north wall. The lighting space is about one-twelfth of the floor space. There are 42 pupils in this room.

Fifth and Sixth Grades Room.—This room is located just above the primary room, and is a counterpart of it. There are also 42 pupils In this room.

Second Grade Room.—This room is located in the lower part of the west end of the old part of the building. It is like the primary room, except that the four windows are in the west wall. There are 44 pupils in the room.

Seventh and Eighth Grades Room.—This room Is an exact counterpart of the second grade room below it. There are 43 pupils in the room.

Third and Fourth Grades Room.—This room is located in the lower part of the new part of the building. Its dimensions are 28 by 30 feet. It is lighted by six windows, each 2 by 6 feet in lighting space. Three windows are in the west wall, two are in the south wall, and one is in the east wall, thus giving crossed rays of light. There are 40 pupils in this room.

High School Room.—This room is located just above the room just described and is a counterpart of It. There are 30 pupils in this room.

Summary.— The walls of the building are cracked and in danger of collapse. The stairways and means of exit are so arranged that a very grave disaster might occur In case of fire. The heating, lighting and ventilation are very bad and no doubt have destroyed the health of many pupils. The various rooms are overcrowded. The health officer, teacher nnd citizens were talked with concerning the building. They expressed themselves that the building was unfit for school purposes. The township is in fair condition financially.

Recommendation.—It Is respectfully recommended that the building be condemned.

After consideration of the above sanitary survey of the schoolhouse at Lyons, Ind., the following proclamation of condemnation was adopted:

PROCLAMATION OF CONDEMNATION.

Whereas, It h;is been shown to the satisfaction of the State Board of Health that the schoolhouse at Lyons, Greene County, Indiana, is unsanitary, and consequently threatens the health nnd life of the pupils, and also interferes with their efficiency, therefore It is

Ordered, That the schoolhouse at Lyons, Greene County, Indiana, is condemned for school purposes, and shall not be used for said school purposes after June 1. 1908, and if any school trustee, or trustees, any teacher or any person uses said schoolhouse for school purposes after the date above named, he or she or they shall be promptly prosecuted as provided in the statutes.

Any person mutilating or tearing down this proclamation shall be prosecuted.

pg. 97-98 of Annual Report

Last updated 22.10.2009