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Show OMS No. 102<-0016, United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section No.~ Page ~ Crescent Elementary, Sandy, Salt Lake County. Utah The newly completed Crescent Elementary School became a community center for civic. religious and private groups and clubs. The large auditorium was perfect for dances, scout meetings, LOS ward socials, plays, Halloween and Christmas parties , senior citizen dinners and Lions Club meetings. In 1946, the Avalon Ballroom was built at 10330 South State Street and many of these functions shifted to that building. When the new LOS ward buildings were completed the LOS socials were held in the ward's cultural hall. 15 At the December 23, 1931, school board meeting President Wilson reported that a request had been received from the "National Council on School Board Problems." He explained that the Crescent School had been selected by the National Council as a model elementary school facility. They requested that the Jordan School District prepare an exhibition of plans and photographs to be displayed at the N. E.A. convention in Detroit on February 25, 1931.16 In 1954 a wing was added to the south side of the building. This addition contains four large classrooms, two large lavatories, a principal's office and waiting room, a sick room, and a large hall with four entrances. By the 1957/1958 school year there were seven teachers employed at the school, lawns were planted on the east and north sides of the building, and the south side was hard surfaced (black-topped) for a playground. The Crescent School building at it exists today is comprised of elements from the three aforementioned major building periods. The facility was used as an elementary school until 1976, and a "new" Crescent Elementary School was built at 11100 South 230 East. Today the school is called Valley High School; an alternative high school for the Jordan School District. ARCHITECTURE The Art Deco style was popular in Utah between 1930 and 1940; stylized plant and animal motifs, geometric patterns, a flat roof, and decorative parapets that imitate crenelation characterize its 17 examples. Typical ornamentation includes panels, cornices , parapets, and window and door surrounds of materials that provide contrast to the exterior; usually terra cotta, exposed metals and glass block. The Crescent Elementary School exhibits several of these Art Deco characteristics including a flat roof, ornamented terra cotta window and door surrounds; terra cotta parapets that imitate crenellation, and decorative terra cotta cornices that display the repeated pattern of a stylized plant motif. Other Art Deco characteristics include metal sash windows , angular geometric patterns, and engaged piers. The 1946 booklet Jordan School District describes the thirteen schools that comprised the district; four of these were located within the boundaries of present day Sandy City: Crescent Elementary, (South) Jordan High School (demolished), Sandy Junior High School (significant alterations), and Union (demolished). Of these four, only Crescent Elementary and Sandy Junior High still stand. The Crescent Elementary School is significant as the only well-preserved historic public school building in Sandy City, as well as one of the few historic public school buildings in Salt Lake County that is still used as a school. The school is also significant as a well-preserved example of the influence of the Art Deco style on public buildings. ~: A "ward" is a geographical and ecclesiastical unit of members of the LOS or Mormon church . Minutes of Boaroof Education Meetings, book 6, 1930. Carter, Thomas & Goss, Peter Utah's 'Historic Architecture , 1847-194Q, 1991. 17 |
