The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-08-30
FORMAL OPENING SEPTEMBER /
CONSTRUCTED ACCORDING TO
BEST MODERN IDEAS-LIGHT,
HEAT AND VENTILATION FEA-
TuRES.

The parochial school of st. James,
corner of View and Randolph streets,
ST. Paul, will be formally opened for
inspection on Labor Day, Monday,
September l. This event will be the
central feature in the celebration of
the silver jubilee of the parish which
was first organized in 1888. The
school has just been completed at a
cost of $4,000, from plans and specifi-
cations prepared by architect, E. J.
Donohue. 1t is a brick structure
two stories in height above the base
ment. The walls are of chocolate
colored pressed brick laid in colored
mortar joints and with trimmings of
cut Bedford limestone.
The building stands on solid rock
quarry and beneath the basement floor
there is a layer of crushed rock ten
inches in thickness. This serves to
drain off the waters of the springs in
the surrounding beds of rock thus
keeping the basement walls and floor
thoroughly dry and wholesome.
The school faces View street stand
ing back about thirty feet from the
sidewalk. A broad cement walk leads
from the street to the building. A
fight of stone steps fourteen feet wide
with a landing of the same width and
flanked by solid brick buttresses
forms the approach to the main en-
trance. Above the front doors are five
panelled windows, and the name
stone over these panels presents a
large smooth surface of Bedford stone
with the name of the school in deeply
carved lettering.
The Main Floor.
From the main entrance one may
reach the main floor or the basement,
two side flights of steps beneath the
landing leading downward to the
basement. On the main floor the front
door opens from a small vestibuls
finished in oak with marble base
board and terrazzo floor. From this
the door to the right leads to an in
side basement stairway and the one to
the left opens upon the main corridor
which extends directly through the
building to the rear entrance. This
corridor is well lighted from the large
glass panels at both ends. The floor
is terrazzo with base board of Kasota
marble.
There are four class rooms on the
main floor, two on each side of the
corridor and all four similar in con-
struction and arrangement. Each
room is twenty-four feet wide and
thirty feet long It is finished in oak
and lighted from one side, where five
large windows give a lighting area
equal to one-fifth of the floor space
of the room. The seats are so ar
ranged that the light comes from the
left of the children. The blackboards
are all of genuine slate. The cloak
room extends along one side of the
class room and is connected with it
by two doors, one used as entrance
and the other as exit. At one end
of the cloakroom there is a combina-
ton wardrobe and locker for the use
of the teacher. The system of heating
is that known as the direct-indirect
steam heat The radiators are so
situated beneath the windows of the
class room that they form no obstruc-
ton. Fresh air directly from the out
side is conducted into a specially
designed radiator which will provide
for each pupil, supply per minute,
of thirty-two cubic feet of fresh air
heated to the temperature of the
room.
The Second Floor.
TIL .oo-o3 49, - rooabo5 - &,,,-
stairways, one at each end of the
corridor The arrangement on the
floor is that of a large parish hall in
two sections each of which is thirty
feet wide and sixty feet long. The
lighting, heating and ventilation, how
ever, are so designed that the hall
may be easily transformed into four
class rooms similar to those on the
first floor when the change is needed
j to accommodate larger number of
pupils. For the present the four class
rooms on the first floor and the hall
on the second will best suit the needs
of the parish.
The floors of both hall and class
rooms are of reinforced concrete,
overlaid with a single layer of maple.
The other woodwork throughout the
building is of oak 1t is treated with
brown acid stain which makes dec
Grafton easy The walls are finished
in hard plaster which can be washed
without DETACHMENT.
The basement flocr is only six feet
below the ground level An equal
height above the ground gives abun-
dant space for the windows which
admit an ample supply of light. A
central corridor divides the basement
into two sections. In the southern
half are situated the boiler room and
the two main toilet rooms with sep
arate branch corridors. The central
heating plant for the Church of St.
James and the priests residence as
well as for the school is now being
installed here.
The Chapel.
The north half of the basement is
occupied by the chapel which is thirty
feet in width by sixty in length.
There are no pillars or other obstruc-
ton of any kind in this pleasant and
roomy all The ceiling which is
twelve feet high. is supported by re
inforced concrete girders. The win