Property Record
5205 N LYDELL AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Lydell School |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 185291 |
| Location (Address): | 5205 N LYDELL AVE |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Whitefish Bay |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
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| Year Built: | 1955 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2011 |
| Historic Use: | school – elem/middle/jr high/high |
| Architectural Style: | International Style |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
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| Additional Information: | In 1950, 7.2 acres of land were purchased for $21,900 by the Whitefish Bay School District in the adjacent City of Glendale. This land was once considered for the development of a new neighborhood park, which the Village’s southwest side was considered to be lacking at the time. Initial proposals for a school at this site were rejected by voters in 1951. Three years later the land was annexed into the village, and Lydell School was built in 1955. The school served as an elementary school, housing kindergarten through third grade classes to alleviate enrollment strain at the village’s other elementary schools. Until this point in time, all of Whitefish Bay’s schools had been constructed in a traditional and ornate Collegiate Gothic style. Lydell School was designed in a minimal, Contemporary style after the previous year’s school board decision to construct all new schools in a more economic and functional architecture. The brick L-shaped building houses 10 classrooms, a multi-purpose room, and administrative offices. During the early 1980s, plans to introduce fourth grade classes to Lydell School were dropped. Due to declining enrollment, the district reorganized, and Lydell School was closed in 1989. At this time, it came to house the community center that had been displaced from the former Henry Clay School, upon its reopening as the Whitefish Bay Middle School. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Building permit records on file at Whitefish Bay Village Hall. Whitefish Bay Historical Research Project. Volume 9. Mimi Bird Collection, Whitefish Bay: Whitefish Bay Public Library |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |