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Today a debate rages on about whether the District 861 School Board should close down Central Elementary, but when the doors opened on August 31, 1931, the school on the cross streets of Market and Broadway was the undisputed darling of the Winona community.
A morning in the archives of the Winona County Historical Society leaves little question as to why. From its innovative design to the heirlooms embedded in it by the Watkins family, Central was crafted so uniquely that to this day there is not another school building like it anywhere.
On the eve of its open house in 1931, the newspaper heralded it as one of the “show places of the city,” extolling to the most minute detail the construction and accoutrements that drew a crowd of 500 to its grand opening celebration.
Paul and Florence Watkins had recently completed construction of the impressive Watkins Manor immediately adjacent to the Central School block, and all of their children attended classes in the old Central School, which was formerly a high school before being converted for elementary use.
When school district officials announced plans to construct a new elementary, Paul Watkins took a keen interest in its design. From his hotel room in Venice, Italy, Watkins drafted a letter to the school board offering, “I am particularly interested in this project and am willing to assist in some way in the embellishment of the building. One means of beautifying the edifices in Europe is by inserting in the walls coats of arms, heraldic designs in stone, antique architectural fragments, etc. These lend a beauty and a dignity, as well as an interest to a building which is not obtainable in any other way.”
Watkins went on to say that in that interest, he had purchased a considerable number of carved stone pieces in Italy and was willing to put them at the disposal of building designers.
The 18 stone pieces Watkins spoke of included centuries-old stone carvings reminiscent of the design used in the court of the Bargello Museum in Florence, Italy.
For the building’s interior, Watkins selected another 20 stone carvings that remain in the school, as well as 22 stained glass windows that have since been removed by a member of the Watkins family. The library was outfitted with a magnificent marble table carved with winged lions in honor of Principal Jennie Burns, the administrator who shepherded all of the Watkins children through the school years earlier.
In the entry, two six-foot Istrian stone columns carved with human figures stand, said to be hundreds of years old and extremely rare. Just behind them a carved lion’s head fountain is embedded in the wall, embellished with a fluted marble basin and surrounded by an arch of blue tile.
Intricately carved stone panels reminiscent of carvings used on the Taj Mahal and Alhambra were placed in the school’s entry, with construction including special lighting to illuminate their placement there.
Most of the pieces were acquired by Watkins from artists and collectors in Florence, Italy, though some came from Rome and London courtesy of Watkins.
A publication in 1931 about the donations made by Watkins described the array of art objects integrated into the school in great detail, and said, “The large collection of beautiful art objects donated to the new Central Grade School by Mr. Paul Watkins has elicited the admiration and excited the curiosity of every visitor to this school, which is said to be the most unique one of its kind in the United States.”
But it was not just the people of Winona calling the school unique.
At the invitation of the National Advisory Council, the details of Central Elementary’s design were presented at a national convention in 1931, making it the only school from Minnesota and one of just 74 city schools from across the country to be spotlighted at the gathering.
Newspaper accounts from the time said Central was identified as a “model” from which other buildings should be constructed due to its visionary building communication system and special purpose rooms for children with extra needs. Its combined auditorium-lunchroom was praised, as was the library design and general layout of the building, and soon other schools in Minneapolis and around the country were imitating the school’s construction.
But what no one could imitate or compare to at the national convention was the breathtaking collection of art and architectural features bestowed on the building by Watkins, the newspaper said. This building in downtown Winona was, everyone agreed, truly one of a kind.
The Winona Heritage Commission is pursuing landmark status for Central and three other Winona elementaries, something that drew a sharp rebuke from board chair Stacey Mounce Arnold. Historical designation, she said, would limit the building’s uses and dull its attraction to potential buyers of what she called a prime piece of real estate.
Commission members disagreed, saying historic designation on a local and national level could serve to help any owner, including the school district, secure grants aimed at preserving architectural gems. The constraint placed on designated historic buildings, they said, is that the exteriors can’t be significantly altered without going through a process, and owners must go through special steps if they want to tear a building down.
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