Richard, Pere Gabriel, Elementary School

National Register

National Register of Historic Places Filing

Local SignificanceArchitecture1930

Pere Gabriel Richard Elementary School, the second elementary School in Grosse Pointe Farms, was completed in 1930. Named in honor of Gabriel Richard, a Catholic priest who widely promoted education in the early nineteenth century, it has architectural significance as a highly unusual example of French Renaissance design in a school building. It is also significant as a major work of architect Robert 0. Derrick, who specialized in period revival designs for residential and institutional buildings in the Detroit area during the 1920's and 1930's.

Physical Description

Pere Gabriel Richard Elementary School is a two and one-half story tall brick and stone-trimmed asymmetrically massed rectangular building containing a third story within the high slate-covered mansard roof. Its highly decorative exterior is French Renaissance in inspiration. Coloristic effects have been achieved by the two-toned (buff and red) brickwork contrasted with stone. The main facade of the school building faces McKinley, but the McMillan elevation is now the primary point of access. A flat-roofed addition designed with the same coloristic effects as the original building was erected on the northeastern end of the school in 1962. The interior features of the school are marble hallways, decorative plaster tympanums over doorways, and Pewabic tile.

Architect/Builder

Robert O. Derrick, Inc.

NRHP Ref# 94000752 • Data from National Park Service • Content available under CC BY-SA 4.0

Historic Photos

(2)

Sourced from the National Register of Historic Places filing

Richard, Pere Gabriel, Elementary School — Gabriel Richard Elementary School, Grosse Pte Farms, Wayne County, MI #1

Public Domain (Michigan Filing)

From Wikipedia

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The Pere Gabriel Richard Elementary School is a public school located at 176 McKinley Avenue in the Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

History As the Grosse Pointes rapidly gained population in the 1920s, the Grosse Pointe Public School System constructed four new school to serve the influx of students. The last of these was Pere Gabriel Richard Elementary School. In 1928, the school board approved the site for this school and issued a bond for its construction. In 1929, they commissioned architect Robert O. Derrick to design the building. The original design was twice as large as the current building, but when construction bids came in the high, Derrick scaled back the plans. A.W. Kutsche and Company was awarded the contract to construct the scaled-down building, and construction was completed in 1930, and opened in September of that year.

Description Pere Gabriel Richard Elementary School is a two and one-half story French Renaissance Revival brick building trimmed with stone. It has a high slate-covered mansard roof that contains a third story. A flat-roofed addition was added in 1962. The facade is asymmetrical, with an off-center main entrance set in a shallow projecting mass. A hip-roof mass at either end of projects slightly.

References

External links Official website

Content available under CC BY-SA 4.0