Digital Bob Archive

Juneau's School House No. 1, above Fifth Street, was doubled in size in 1900, the year the newly created incorporated City of Juneau operated the school. That made four rooms, but in 1901 they proved inadequate for the enrollment and the School Board had to rent a building known as Heid's Hall, on Seward Street above Third, for the overflow. The rent was $300 for the year.

There was some talk in 1901 of building \"a real stone and brick\" school house, but although Juneau was growing, it just did not have that kind of financial resources. For one thing, cities were not allowed to issue bonds or incur bonded indebtedness, and the only waiver to this was a special Act of Congress.

Something had to be done, however, about the overcrowded school and in the summer of 1902 the old wooden building, the original part of which had been built in 1887, was added to again. This time they literally raised the roof and installed four more classrooms beneath it, making eight in all. Juneau continued to grow and by 1912 there was double shifting of some classes and the facilities were far short of what they should have been for the high school. The School Board repaired the Windsor Building at the corner of Second and Seward. It had been partly burned by a fire in 1911 but the lower part was fixed up for two grade school classrooms.

By the spring of 1913 the city had accumulated a fund of $30,000 for school construction and the School Board had plans for a new building 180 by 68 feet, half of which, 60 x 80 feet, could be constructed in 1913 and half at a later date. As originally planned, there would be two floors with the main entrance from Sixth Street, a basement and a sub-basement. These would hold an assembly room, two large playrooms and other facilities. The first section would be built beside the old school which would not be torn down until the second section could be built.

A crew under the city engineer prepared the site, excavating a good deal of material which was used for fill under Lower Front Street, as the present South Franklin was then known. But all the plans went out the window when the bids came in on August 12. The lowest, by L.P. Skoog who was building the Salmon Creek dam, was for $33,582. Two others were $34,200 and $36,500.

The City Council and School Board met together on August 13 and decided to postpone any school construction, partly because the bid was more than the available funds, partly because it was so late in the year. Instead, the $30,000 would be used to build a badly needed city hall and fire station on a piece of ground the city owned at Fourth and Main Streets. Temporary school rooms would be fitted up in the city hall.

Instead of letting a contract, the work was done by force account under the direction of the city engineer. The work went rapidly and on November 20 the high school and 5th and 8th grades moved into the city hall.