Père Gabriel Richard Elementary School
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
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ Deborah M. Goldstein (March 31, 1994), National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Pere Gabriel Richard Elementary School