Author: Darrell Swanson

Need To Expand, The Ideas, The Money, The GFHS Legacy. Is The School District’s Proposal The Best Solution? 

NOTABLE EVENT 2017:  Great Falls High School’s historic original building was recognized in 2017 by Architectural Digest Magazine as one of the Most Beautiful Public High Schools in America. 

During 2012 the Great Falls High School Heritage Foundation (GFHS-HF), an independent nonprofit organization founded by Darrell A. Swanson (GFHS 1965) and Phillip M. Faccenda (GFHS 1965) initiated the historic window replacement program and coordinated efforts with the District for a demonstration project.  To replace the Kalwall windows, GFHS-HF selected, recommended, and gained approval for the appropriate historic replacement windows, provided engineering models and comparative values, established compliance with the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), prepared bid documents, and through donations successfully funded the first six windows of the program.  It continues with GFHS-HF and the Great Falls Public Schools Foundation.

 

GFPS PROPOSAL NUMBER ONE

The District intends to expand the GFHS campus because, as many times before, the available spaces do not have the capacity to provide the education services needed.  So another development process began approximately eight years ago.

In February 2010, Dr. Cheryl K. Crawley, Great Falls Public Schools Superintendent, established a task force to study the physical plant at GFHS. The task force’s charge was to recommend improvements and changes to the buildings, grounds, and physical plant of the high school so that the school can continue to provide a high-quality education while remaining at near-capacity in terms of enrollment. Dr. Crawley’s report noted that GFHS currently has dining facilities too small for the size of the student body; requires students, faculty, staff, and the public to unsafely walk outdoors during winter weather to move between buildings, lacks an adequate HVAC system (particularly in moving fresh air into the interior as well as moving air around inside the building), cannot accommodate high-bandwidth computer or phone lines, and has poor cell phone, television, and radio reception.

Because of the need for those upgrades, GFPS started the process to master plan the expansion of the facilities.  Local Architect, L’Heureux Page Warner, was hired for a fee of $150,000 to assist with space programming and to study master planning the campus.  LPW’s $59M proposal showed a two-story bridge connecting the 2^nd and 3^rd floors of the main campus to the south campus, removing the existing Industrial Arts building, adding parking to Kranz Park and the practice field, and adding new parking at the corner of 2^nd Avenue and 20^th Street.  There was community opposition to this plan by citizens and alumni of the school.  Mainly because of high cost and the proposed design direction. Letters to the Editor were written and a large billboard against the initial concept appeared. The first master plan proposal was ultimately rejected by the school district.

GFPS PROPOSAL NUMBER TWO

The Great Falls Public Schools Superintendent changed to Tammy Lacey and the process continued.  Hulteng CCM, Inc., headquartered in Billings, MT, was selected to manage the $98M school district wide development project.  The school district conceptualized a second GFHS maste rplan proposal and included it in the bond request to the tax payers.  There was again certain community opposition to this plan.  Mainly because of high cost, concern about the three-story connection to the historic structure, parking scattered on the campus, and centralized outdoor storage.  Letters to the Editor were written and many opinions of opposition appeared on blog sites.

GFPS PROPOSAL NUMBER THREE

During 2017 the district was successful in bonding $38M to upgrade GFHS Main Campus Classrooms, Parking, Technology Career & Technical Education (CTE) Facilities, Lunch/Dining Areas, Building Entrances and STEM Classrooms. Also, during 2017, the district selected a team of consultants to carry forward with master planning and design.  The team is headed by NE45 Architects of Bozeman, MT, and Bassetti Architects of Seattle, WA.  Local engineering companies support the group.  Cost for design services was not disclosed.

The above noted second master plan proposal was discarded by the school district.  As a result, GFPS has proposed a third architectural proposal that, in many ways, is not unlike the proposals before.  It would place parking on many locations on campus and Kranz Park and have fenced outdoor storage yards, shops, service roads, and delivery trucks centrally located between the existing IA building and Field House.  It would also have one story of new space connecting the Field House to the historic original Main Campus building, thereby eliminating the east/west pedestrian flow through the campus along the Fourth Avenue South corridor.

The following explains the GFPS proposal NUMBER THREE.  It was presented to the Community at GFHS on January 25, 2018.  The district is currently asking for public comment about their proposal.

The District’s third architectural proposal would eliminate the east/west pedestrian flow through the campus along the Fourth Avenue South corridor with new ground floor space between the field house and the original building. 

The design and approval process are ongoing but nearing an end for this third proposal.  The public can review it and make comments at following links:

https://gfps.k12.mt.us/great-falls-high-school-addition-and-renovation/

https://vimeo.com/252550527

https://gfps.k12.mt.us/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/GFHS%20Slide%20Show%20Community%20Mtg%20%281%29.pdf

The conclusion of this process is the next phase of the history and legacy at GFHS. 

Should THE SCHOOL DISTRICT’S PROPOSAL BE THE FINAL SOLUTION?????

YOUR COMMENTS SHOULD BE HEARD HERE AND AT THE DISTRICT.

 By Darrell A. Swanson-GFHS Class of 1965, Architect/Planner, Tax Payer, and Citizen

THE VISIT, THE MIDDLE YEARS, THREE MORE ADDITIONS, THE MONEY, AND THE ARCHITECTS DESIGNS

When in 10^th grade there was a NOTABLE EVENT at Great Falls High School, the City, the State, and the Nation.  On Thursday, September 26, 1963, more than 20,000 people crowded into Memorial Stadium to listen to a speech about conservation by President John F. Kennedy.  I was fortunate to see JFK get off his plane at the Airport and also along his route for his speech at the Memorial Stadium.  That day I left school on the seat of my dirt bike, raced to the Gore Hill trails I help brake in, spun the tire up the hill, peered through the airport chain link fence, and hopped back on the bike to parallel his route to the stadium.  I was too late to sit in the stadium so I listened as I hung out next to the flag while enjoying the then, park-like quadrangle.

This is the fourth in a series of informational articles that focus primarily on the architectural history of Great Falls High School and campus.  The information has been gathered from available records.  Missing information may be confirmed upon further research.  I will be interested in obtaining that information from you if known.

Part Three talked about the evolution of the campus between when built in 1930 to when facilities were constructed during 1997.  During that period there were three major additions and a total window replacement at the original building.  All design teams have been led by talented Great Falls companies.  Construction had primarily been done by local contraction teams.

Part 4 summarizes major construction on the campus from 1997 to when the last major construction was completed in 1998.

The fourth major addition to the original historic structure was the 1998, 50’ x 110’ Wrestling Addition connected to the north elevation of the original Gymnasium. It was designed by local firm, Davidson – Kuhr Architects. The $300,000 cost of construction was a donation from local attorney Zander Blewett and his wife Andy. The donation was conditioned upon the selection of the architectural firm Davidson – Kuhr. Excavation. Concrete work was donated by Robert McIntyre and United Materials of Great Falls. The Wrestling Addition’s designers attempted to incorporate a simplified interpretation of Collegiate Gothic Revival elements of original school, such as the pilaster design and belt-course of the original school.

Remarkably, Great Falls High School, including the first and second additions, has retained its original interior and exterior finishes and detailing with the exception of the later windows replacement to a Kalwall insulated panel system. Oak trim and cabinetry, plaster ceilings and walls terrazzo and hard wood floors, and many original lighting fixtures are in excellent condition after many years dedicated maintenance. Once completed, the ongoing historical window replacement program should restore the exterior of the building. That will be explained in PART 5.

Backtracking to major additions to the GFHS campus, in 1979 the school district built the stand-alone Bison Fieldhouse south of 4th Ave and disconnected from the original building. It was built as a modern sports facility with 3,600-seat basketball arena, Olympic-size swimming pool, classrooms, weight-training room, boys and girls locker rooms, offices, sports training and conditioning rooms, and parking lot. Local architectural firm, R. Terry Johnson Architects, was the architect of record. Philip M. Faccenda (GFHS 1965) joined the firm in 1978 as design architect. The original design called for a brick exterior and a connector to the main campus. Budget was not adequate so both were cut from program.

In 1995, the Great Falls Public Schools commissioned a study which looked at ways to alleviate overcrowding at GFHS as well as make the school handicapped compliant. The study recommended building an addition to house classrooms and the construction of an elevator in the main building to give students access to science laboratory space on the structure’s second and third floors. The classroom addition to Bison Fieldhouse (known as “South Campus”) opened in the summer of 1998.[10][25] The elevator began operation the same year.

To preserve and recognize the school, during 2011 when the school district started considering their next major project, two GFHS alumni and professional architects, Philip M. Faccenda (GFHS 1965) and Darrell Swanson (GFHS 1965) founded the independent nonprofit Great Falls High School Heritage Foundation. During 2013, as the first project of the organization, they volunteered their time to prepare the sixty-page submittal and successfully placed the original building and campus on the National Register of Historic Places.

PARTS 1 to 4 have explained the development past process and construction at the campus. These projects were successfully funded and managed by the school districted. Design teams were headed by established and talented local architects, engineers, and contractors. It was the basic development process that has not changed over the years. As we approach the $38M major expansion at GFHS this year, Part 5 will discuss the later years. It will talk about the next PART of the GFHS legacy.

Please stay tuned.

Summarized by Darrell A. Swanson

GFHS Class of 1965, Architect/Planner, Tax Payer, Citizen

He can be reached at darrells@swansonarchitects.com or 406.599.6910

THE MIDDLE YEARS 1930 – 1997, THREE ADDITIONS, THE MONEY, AND THE ARCHITECT’S DESIGNS

This is the third in a series of informational articles that focus primarily on the architectural history of Great Falls High School and campus. The information has been gathered from available records. Missing information may be confirmed upon further research. I will be interested in obtaining that information from you if known.

In a few cases, such as what I stated in PART TWO, are as I remember. I am interested in any suggested corrections or happy personal tidbits that expand the history.

Another tidbit from me is that I sincerely liked going to school at GFHS for the three years when it was a grade 10 – 12 high school with 3,000 students. Well, that three years is minus one day when asked by my favorite teacher to leave because my shirt was not tucked in. (At least that is the way I remember it). No matter, I was very anxious to return as soon as the next school bell rang because my previous work day started a bit too early (and my dirt bike did not start) when my Dad put a 16-pound sledge hammer in my hand and told me to break a hole in a concrete wall where he needed an opening for a stair. I was easily convinced that school lunch and drafting class was a much better career builder.

Part Two explained the funding, design. and construction process for the original GFHS building and Memorial Stadium through 1930 when they were built. It was designed to serve 1900 students and was constructed for $1.15 million. ($526 per student). It was an impressive build during the start of the depression and greatly helped the regional economy. A talented team of Great Falls architects and civil engineers were hired who then collaborated with a Minneapolis architectural firm to augment the team. Many construction companies and craftsmen were kept busy on the 1 ½ year construction.

Part Three will talk about the evolution of the campus between when built in 1930 to the facilities that were constructed during 1997. During that period there have been three major additions and window replacement to the original building.

“Part Three will talk about the evolution of the campus between when built in 1930 to the facilities that were constructed during 1997. During that period there have been three major additions and window replacement to the original building.”

The first major project began in 1954 when a second floor was added to the southeast corner of the school above the Art, Journalism and Machine Shop classrooms to accommodate the expanded choir, orchestra and band facilities by the local architectural firm of McIver, Hess & Haugsjaa established in 1953 (9). Angus Vaughn McIver, born in Great Falls, MT in1892, was a 1910 graduate of Great Falls High School and the University of Michigan, whose Montana architectural license number was “6” and was issued in 1918, one year after Montana licensing began. William J. Hess, born in 1914, was a graduate of Montana State College earning a B.S. architectural degree in 1937. Knute S. Haugsjaa, born in 1915, was a graduate of North Dakota State College with a B.S. architectural degree in 1939. The second-floor addition was a congruent design and featured the reuse of original parapet caps and crenels from the existing first floor. Construction contracts were awarded in March of 1954 and work was completed later that year at a cost of $110,400. (14)

The second major project was the $215,000 three-story addition designed in 1963 by McIver and Hess Architects. It is located at the east termination of vertical East-West “T” leg adjacent to 20th Street and created classroom space on the first floor for Homemaking, Commercial, and History, on the second floor for the Library, and on the third floor for Chemistry and Biology. The architect’s adherence to original detailing was exacting, well executed and included several of the brick bonds used on the original structure. The addition created a new “Main Entrance” to the school along the originally established east – west axis. (15)

The original windows were a combination of 12/12 and 9/9 wood double-hung sash. The original wood window frames were found to be rotted through, allowing cold air to enter the building. (16) Beginning in 1966 and programmed as a five-year project, the windows were replaced with Kalwall insulated translucent panels and a single aluminum tempered glass operating light. Budget was $100,000. The windows substantially reduced the transparency and natural light to all rooms of the school.

The third addition, designed in 1975 by the local firm of Davidson – Kuhr Architects, is a nondescript 120’ x 100’ two – story independently sited masonry Industrial Arts building located between the southwest side of the school and Memorial Stadium. It is connected to the school via an enclosed sky bridge from the school’s main east – west hallway adjacent to the Auditorium foyer. When built, the building effectively closed the north-south open commons area in the middle of the campus between 2nd Ave South and 5th Ave. South that included flag court, west side of old school building, senior stair, stadium, field house, and south campus.

Part 4 will discuss the years from the fourth major addition to when the last major work on the campus was completed. Please stay tuned.

Summarized by Darrell A. Swanson

GFHS Class of 1965, Architect/Planner, Tax Payer, Citizen He can be reached at darrells@swansonarchitects.com or 406.599.6910

9 National Park Service 10 “Great Falls High School.” Great Falls High School Bison Football. No date. Accessed 2011-05-06.

14 Wilmot, Paul. “1920s Proved to Be Eventful in Great Falls, Around Region.” Great Falls Tribune. April 11, 2010.

15 Wilmot, Paula. “See How You Fared in Our Area History Quiz of the 1930s.” Great Falls Tribune. May 9, 2010. 16″Find Giant Powder Hidden in Manhole.” Associated Press. August 6, 1929.

24 Prep Notebook.” Great Falls Tribune. April 15, 2003. 25 Les Johnson o/b/o Amanda Johnson v. Great Falls Public Schools. Final Order. HRC Case No. 9504007138. Human Rights Commission of the State of Montana. September 10, 1998, p. 5-6. Accessed 2011-05-06.

This is the second in a series of informational articles that will focus primarily on the architectural history of Great Falls High School.  The information has been gathered from available records. 

In a few cases, such as what I stated in PART ONE about the school’s student population in 1965 when I graduated, is as I remember and lived it.  I am interested in any suggested corrections or happy personal tidbits that expand the history.  One of many happy tidbits in my case, I enjoyed the first (of three) shifts best, thereby freeing my time at noon each day for work and my chosen sport, dirt bikes.  Some may remember my 20^th street wheelies as I celebrated another day of freedom after my last class.  

In 1927, the Great Falls Public School system was unsuccessful in gaining voter approval to issue bonds to build a new high school, but a second try in 1928 was approved.  Construction began on the landmark $1 million School in 1928 and was completed on July 21, 1930 at a final cost of $1.15 million.  The original Great Falls High School campus is located on four city blocks between 2^nd and 4^th Avenues South and between 18^th and 20^th Streets South to the East of the Original Townsite of the expanding City of Great Falls.

The design of the new Great Falls High School was a collaborative effort by the Great Falls architectural firm of George W. Bird and Johannes Van Teylingen and the Minneapolis, Minnesota firm of Ernest Croft and Francis C. Boerner.  Van Teylingen was one of the most prominent architects in Montana at the time and had designed the Masonic Temple in Great Falls, the Great Falls Civic Center and Turner Hall on the campus of the University of Montana.  George W. Bird was by training a civil engineer and was hired as the first City Engineer of Great Falls by Mayor Paris Gibson at the suggestion of James Hill to lay out the new city’s streets, parks and boulevards.

George W. Bird was born on February 4, 1861 and was educated in Philadelphia.  He arrived at the confluence of the Missouri and Sun rivers by stage coach in 1882.  Eventually, Bird associated himself with Jonannes Van Teylingen, a young native Hollander.  The partnership produced such Great Falls buildings as the Emerson and Washington schools, the original Roosevelt School, the Largent School which was originally designed as a junior high, and the Christian, St John’s Lutheran, and First Baptist churches, as well as many other projects. ⁽²⁾  

Van Teylingen and Bird’s association on Great Falls High School was Bird’s last commission and after its completion he retired from active practice at the age of 69.  He lived to the age of 100 and passed away in Great Falls, the city to which he was instrumental in giving birth. 

Ernest B. Croft (1889 – 1959), of Croft and Boerner Architects, Minneapolis, Minnesota, was born November 19, 1889 in Herman, Minnesota and practiced with Francis C. Boerner (1989 – 1937), the firm’s business manager, from 1916 to 1920. ⁽³⁾  Croft, a graduate of the University of Minnesota in 1911, was affiliated with several firms and spent 3 years in New York City before partnering with fellow University of Minnesota graduate Boerner in 1916. ⁽⁴⁾  The firm was widely respected having designed the Minneapolis Municipal Auditorium and particularly noted for their high school design experience with many projects across Minnesota and Iowa.  It is believed that Croft’s Elk River Senior High School, Elk River, Minnesota, and Great Falls High School, both completed in 1930 were outstanding examples of an evolution in secondary school design by the firm. 

The construction of the building generated strong debate over whether the high school’s name should be changed, with former students asking that the school’s name be changed to “Charles M. Russell High School” after local artist Charles M. Russell, while businessmen in the city wanted the name to be “James J. Hill High School”, the chief executive of the Great Northern Railroad and friend of Paris Gibson.

Another debate erupted over the type of brick to be used in the building.  The architects, primarily the consulting architectural firm of Croft and Boerner, had specified that the exterior brick be a dark red; however, some business members of the school board wanted to use a lighter local brick.  Investigative trips with several school board members to Western Clay Manufacturing in Helena, Montana ⁽¹⁶⁾ and Riddell & Watts brickyard in Missoula, Montana ⁽¹⁷⁾ were promoted by the architects and a successful compromise to use dark imported brick for the exterior and light, locally-made bricks for the interior.  The locally made bricks were twice the price of the imported brick.

The final cost of the building when completed on July 21, 1930 was $1.15 million and opened in the Fall of 1930 with 1,760 students, just under the 1,800 it was designed to accommodate.  The three-story school reflects the symmetrical classic T-shape, 515’ North-South and 152’ East-West. 

Defining architectural elements such as the typically crenelated parapets, Gothic arch window and door openings, tracery windows and tower are evidenced in the Great Falls High School design.  The brick work incorporates five different bond patterns and the extensive use of cut sandstone details produced a structure of unmatched beauty and utility. 

The dark red brick building exhibits common exterior Collegiate Gothic detailing including formed-in-place concrete foundation, a low rise concrete base, a sandstone water table, contrasting sandstone window sills, soldier course window headers at the first floor, a sandstone belt course at the second floor window sill with decorative highly articulated brick continuous bracket, soldier course window headers, sandstone third floor window sills and continuous sandstone headers at each of the stepped-out pilaster flanked bays.  The walls invoke the Gothic style with a crenelated parapet with terra cotta caps.  The crenels are terra cotta and typically spaced at two per bay.

The central corridor interior plan with classrooms opening on to generous hallways was designed to allow maximum fenestration for the classrooms and incorporates a Gothic detailed main entrance at the west elevation forming the top of the “T” and facing the Stadium.  The formal symmetry is further evidenced by the main entrance’s position being centered on the East – West axis of Third Avenue South and the flag pole’s placement at the intersection of the East – West axis and the North – South axis of Nineteenth Street.  Twin elaborate angled staircases are located at the intersecting north-south and east west hallways adjacent to the main entrance and secondary staircases are located at the north and south ends of the main hallway.

The strict orientation of the site plan and building location can most likely be credited to G.W. Bird.  The building is anchored on the North by the Gymnasium and on the South by an elaborate Theatre / Auditorium

The Gymnasium contains two basement locker rooms and a hardwood basketball court surrounded by mezzanine seating that accommodates 1,200 spectators.  At the same time, Memorial Stadium, honoring those who fought and served in World War I, was constructed featuring concrete bleachers on the east side of the football field and clad in the same dark red brick on the upper west elevation of the seating.

Two, two-story 256 square foot structures flank both ends of the bleacher seating with the northeast structure connected to the locker room level of the gymnasium by an underground tunnel.  In 1957, a reinforced concrete grandstand that included a press box, concession area and restrooms was added at the west side of the stadium.

The construction of the Gymnasium and stadium proved timely, since in 1930 the Montana Supreme Court ruled in McNair v School District no. 1 of Cascade County that a gymnasium was a “necessary and essential part of a school plant” which was lacking in the original 1896 Great Falls High School by William White. ⁽¹³⁾

Great Falls High School is anchored on the south by an exquisitely designed Auditorium / Theatre seating 900 on the main level and 300 on the balcony level. The Theatre is accessed from a generous foyer with a ticket booth which is centered on the main hallway of the transverse portion of the formal “T”.   The Theatre is replete with ornate plaster work including perforated plaster grilles and original hanging light fixtures.  Proscenium, stage and fourth wall are fine examples of period theatre design.  The exterior entrance to the theatre is the second most distinctive entry to the school, displaying a shallow sandstone portico with a crenelated parapet and center arch.  The entrance is approached by a broad 90-degree stairway that accesses four centered doors with an arched three light transom and two side doors reinforcing the architect’s intent that the school was to be community centric. The entrance leads to a fore-lobby and then to the foyer of the theatre. 

An interior stair tower with sandstone arched top windows on the north and west sides, indented upper story masonry corners with chamfered sandstone transition blocks similar to the west main entrance tower.  The indented exterior wall from the water table to the parapet incorporates a sandstone and brick heraldic panel above the windows in a chequy pattern signifying “Constancy”.  The Chequy panels above single arched top windows also occur at northeast and north west entrances / stair towers to the gymnasium along with upper floor single arched top windows, indented upper floor wall corners and chamfered sandstone transition blocks.

The original campus and building remains a much revered historic icon in the community.  Since its inception, GFHS has evolved with many added facilities.  Please stay tuned.

^2.  “Early Day Architects in Great Falls”, anonymous, Great Falls Public Library.

^3.  “Croft, Ernest B.”, Who’s Who In Minnesota, 1941.

^4.   “Boerner, Francis C.”, Obit, NW Architect, v.1 #3, January 1937,p.15. (Board of Registration)

^13. “McNair v. School District No. 1 of Cascade County (Mont.)”, 87 Mont. 423, 288 P. 188 (1930). 

^16. Western Clay Manufacturing Company, “Archie Bray Foundation I History”,   http://www.archiebray.org/about_us/abf_history.html

^17. Riddell & Watts brickyard, “Historic Missoula – Missoula Brick”,   http://historicmissoula.org/History/BuildingMaterials/MissoulaBrick/ 

Summarized by Darrell A. Swanson

GFHS Class of 1965, Architect/Planner, Tax Payer, Citizen

He can be reached at darrells@swansonarchitects.com or 406.599.6910

For good reason, Great Falls High School’s historic original building, built in 1930, was recognized in 2017 by Architectural Digest Magazine as one of the Most Beautiful Public High Schools in America.  During 1965, my class was the last to graduate before CMR was built.  At the peak of its utilization, 3,000 students attended in 3 shifts, starting at 6 AM and ending at 6 PM. 

That is a blip in its history that was only 35 years after it was built and 53 years ago today.  I assume many would be interested so I intend to chronical the history of Great Falls High School.  Please stay tuned.

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of informational articles detailing the history of Great Falls High School, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

I was born in Great Falls, am a 1965 alumnus of Great Falls High School, gained a Masters in Architecture from MSU during 1973, and started my architectural practice during 1978 in Calgary. I have successfully completed many architectural projects in several States and Canadian Provinces. Locally, my family has owned businesses and has built numerous residential and commercial projects since the early 1900’s. I am a property owner, landlord, and have development interests next to the GF International Airport. I am pleased to say that I have been honored with American Institute of Architects building design and academic awards.

I have been watching the E-City-Beat blog since the new editor took responsibly a short while back. Although I do not agree with some of what is said, I see it is an enlightening way to find out opinions about what is happening in and around Great Falls. Whether I agree or disagree with the ECB bloggers, the exposure to the variety of viewpoints is interesting and hard to find elsewhere. Contrary to one bloggers negative comments, I do not see ECB as a loser’s blog, I see it more as a freedom of speech blog expressing varying opinions about our region. It is very annoying to hear negative personal attacks directed toward these caring citizens rather than spending that kind of energy to help find solutions to problems.

Because of my interest to see the GFHS campus better than it is, I have spent considerable time over the last several years thinking about how to do just that by master planning solutions for the very complex problem. In addition, I helped initiate the historic window replacement program, was involved with finding funding for most of the first batch of windows as a demonstration project and preserved the original school building and campus by assisting with placing it on the National Register of Historic Places. https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/pdfs/13000097.pdf

There has been a lot said on this blog about Great Falls High School so I have decided to share my points of view on the subject. Not in response to other blog comments, but to offer my independent concerns and suggestions.

First, I would like to thank Superintendent Tammy Lacey for the time she and her team recently spent to meet with me to review and discuss their third architectural proposal for the much needed GFHS improvements. The District presentation can be seen at the following links where comments about their third proposal can also be made.

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

I am pleased to see that this third attempt in six years finally incorporates the campus connector where I have advocated and showed them in my architectural designs for that length of time. It is great that the District finally agrees that location for the connector is best and I encourage them to go forward with it.

Although I see the Districts and Bozeman/Seattle Architects proposal as a positive, albeit small, step forward, I believe that the District continues to miss the opportunity to create the best solution for a long term sustainable masterplan. I have many concerns about this third suggestion to the citizens, as I have also had for the two previously rejected plans.

The District’s third architectural proposal would regrettably destroy the beautiful Historic Campus and Kranz Park by arbitrarily throwing down surface parking lots that would have long winter walk times where trees would be removed and lawns would be eradicated. Their ideas seriously lack respect for the Heritage at GFHS by filling up the historic campus with surface parking lots and structures rather than creating a functional heart for the campus. Unfortunately, they propose cluttered spaces with cars, fenced outdoor storage yards, shops, service roads, and delivery trucks instead of facilities with sunlit learning plazas, an articulate all school student stair, and centrally located open areas for enjoyment of the existing and new landscaping.

The District’s third architectural proposal would unfortunately close the east/west pedestrian flow through the campus along the Fourth Avenue South corridor with intrusive walls that would become barriers that negate the residential neighborhood and greatly diminish functionality. That idea would force pedestrians on long time consuming and uneventful voyages around the perimeter of the campus rather than on plazas through the heart of the campus where the best access to the Stadium, Field House, and Main School Entrance should be. The District’s current ideas would be extremely uninviting rather than enhancing the campus with foresight and imagination.

With hopefully an open mind and desire to achieve the best solution, I encourage the District to further minimize connection to the original Historic Structure, place the Commons/Hub/Dining where it will conveniently serve the students and stadium visitors, and save the historic campus by investing in a below grade centrally located three level parking structure that would replace the senior parking lot. With foresight to further achieve a long-term solution, the parking structure would be the foundation for an above grade education center at the upper plaza level.

“With hopefully an open mind and desire to achieve the best solution, I encourage the District to further minimize connection to the original Historic Structure, place the Commons/Hub/Dining where it will conveniently serve the students and stadium visitors, and save the historic campus by investing in a below grade centrally located three level parking structure that would replace the senior parking lot. With foresight to further achieve a long-term solution, the parking structure would be the foundation for an above grade education center at the upper plaza level.”

Rather than destroy our beautiful campus, my hope is that the District opens their minds to evolve the GFHS masterplan into a solution that respects, preserves, and broadens the significance of Great Falls High School’s historic original building that was recognized in 2017 by Architectural Digest Magazine as one of the Most Beautiful Public High Schools in America.

I encourage the District to work hard conceptualizing the GFHS masterplan until a suitable and fully integrated solution is realized. I recommend that they not rest until the design is respectful, sensible, dynamic, functional, economical, serviceable, and fun.

By Darrell A. Swanson-GFHS Class of 1965, Architect/Planner, and Tax Payer A portion of Darrell’s GFHS Master Planning Concept can be viewed at www.swansonarchitects.com The full presentation will be provided upon email request. He can be reached at darrells@swansonarchitects.com or 406.599.6910