Dewey, Chester, School No. 14 - Rochester, NY
Posted by: 
sagefemme
N 43° 09.585 W 077° 35.848
18T E 288829 N 4781830
Now known as World of Inquiry School #58, this building was once the home of the City Normal School, and then Chester Dewey School #14.
Waymark Code: WMDCWW
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 12/26/2011
Views: 5
"The Chester Dewey School constructed in 1915-1916, is a two-story brown brick structure. A two story arcade with alternating stone and brick voussoirs and stone roundels in the spandrels is carried on a two-sory Colonnade of ten Tuscan columns. This loggia, which sits on a wide stone water table above the raised basement, is flanked by pavilions with projecting basement and first story polygonal bays. Each projecting bay contains a band of windows over one-over-one or paired two-over-two double hung sash windows in the basement. The second story windows above each pavilion are tripartite, with two-over-two double hung sash windows with stone lintels.
"The first and second story windows of the main facade are recessed behind the loggia which is connected by an iron railing between columns. The segmental arch two-over-two light double-hung sash windows of the first floor by panelled brick spandrels. A simple architrave with a denticulated cornice surrounds the double entrance door and its plate glass transom. Above the door is an iron-railed balcony supported by consoles. A segmental arched casement-type door leads to this balcony. The parapet, above a denticulated frieze, is broken by vertical stone bands and piers with stylized urn and plant motifs. Above the side pavilions, the parapet is pedimented. Stained-glass transoms highlight the decoration of the kindergarten area in both doors and windows. Interior features are oak doors and steel stairs, typical of school construction of the period.
The Chester Dewey School No 14 is architecturally significant in the Inner Loop... as an unusually distinguished example of early twentieth century public school design. designed by prominent Rochester architect Edwin S. Gordon and built between 1915-1916, the eclectic design freely combines elements and details inspired by the Italian Renaissance including its eleven-bay arcaded loggia, its finest and most unusual feature. The loggia, composed of modified Tuscan columns and round arches with alternating brick and stone voussoirs, effectively masks an otherwise monotonous elevation and distinguishes this building from numerous lesser contemporaries. It is the only historic public school building to survive in the Inner Loop. Its carefully conceived and excptionally well executed architectural design is a reminder of the high value placed in public education in Rochester during the early twentieth century and the importance of its schools as symbols of civic pride." (
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In fact, it is the only public school in the Rochester City School District on the NRHP, the Elwanger Barry School having been converted to condominiums.