Rapid City High School (RCHS), formerly the Dakota Junior High School and then the Dakota Middle School, is an
alternative
Alternative or alternate may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki''
* ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film
* ''The Alternative ...
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
at 601 Columbus Street,
Rapid City, South Dakota
Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...
. Established in 1923, the building served as the first site of
Rapid City Central High School until it moved to a new facility on Mount Rushmore Road North. Rapid City High School also hosts the Performing Arts Center of Rapid City. The school building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on June 28, 2010.
[ With ]
Performing Arts Center of Rapid City
Moved to the Rapid City High School in 2011,
the Performing Arts Center of Rapid City, colloquially known as The Center, hosts public events and performances. There are two theatres: the original 830-seat Historic Theater and the 175-seat Studio Theater. Organizations such as the
Black Hills Symphony Orchestra The Black Hills Symphony Orchestra (BHSO) is an American orchestra located in Rapid City, South Dakota serving the Black Hills region, and is a member of the League of American Orchestras. The BHSO is administered by Black Hills Symphony Orchestra S ...
and the Black Hills Community Theatre are based out of this center.
History
By the beginning of the 20th century, there were growing concerns of low literacy in Rapid City. In 1915, most residents had only been given a basic education; about 10% of the population had graduated high school, and only 158 people in the entirety of
Pennington County held college degrees.
Multiple school buildings have been built on the present-day school site, but the remaining one, built in 1923, is the only building that has survived. This complex served as Rapid City's only public high school until 1969.
The first school building here was built in 1882, a three-story
Second Empire Second Empire may refer to:
* Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783
* Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396)
* Second French Empire (1852–1870)
** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...
structure that served as Rapid City's first high school until it burned down in 1917. A second campus building was added in 1913;
President
Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...
visited the Black Hills during the summer of 1927 and established his temporary offices there as his "
Summer White House
Listed below are the private house, residences of the various President of the United States, presidents of the United States. For a list of official residences, see President of the United States#Residence, President of the United States § Re ...
". Coolidge wrote his "
I do not choose to run
"I do not choose to run" was a statement made by U.S. president Calvin Coolidge to the press on August 2, 1927, on his decision not to run for the 1928 presidential election. The statement was ambiguous, and led to considerable debate as to the ...
" speech at this building,
and two years later, it was renamed to Coolidge High School in his honor.
Washington Elementary School was added to the complex about 1918.
As Rapid City was quickly expanding and needed more classroom space, the
Rapid City School District hired
Perkins & McWayne to design a new school complex. This new building was to be constructed in three phases; the first phase, consisting of the east wing, lasted from 1922 until December 1923. During this period, it served as the campus's
junior high school
A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...
. Due to the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, the central and western wings were not completed until May 1937 with the help of the
Public Works Administration
The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recove ...
. It was one of only two buildings designed by Northwestern Engineering Company, which mainly constructed roads. The expanded school—its name reverted back to Rapid City High School by a city-wide popular vote—officially opened to high school students for the fall semester, and junior high classes were moved to the Coolidge Building. Several outbuildings and additions were added in the following decades. A workshop building was added to the southwest side in 1953, and a new boys'
gymnasium was built in 1967.
When Stevens High School opened after Thanksgiving 1969, half of the high school students transferred there from the old school, now renamed Rapid City Central High School.
However, by this time, the original school complex was aging and could no longer support high school functions, and the city decided to build a new secondary school elsewhere. The new Central High School was completed and opened on Mount Rushmore Road North in 1976, and classes at the old school stopped temporarily while it was renovated to be used again as a junior high. It reopened as Dakota Junior High School (later renamed Dakota Middle School).
During the school day on December 4, 1970, a fire broke out in Washington Elementary School; although no one was injured, the building was completely destroyed.
The fire also damaged the neighboring Coolidge Building, and both it and Washington Elementary School were demolished in 1971.
This left the 1923 Rapid City High School as the last remaining classroom building on the site.
In 2011, the city made the decision to close Dakota Middle School and reopen the campus again as Rapid City High School to relieve overcrowding at the two public high schools. A new junior high school was constructed in
Rapid Valley. The school's auditorium reopened to the public as the Performing Arts Center of Rapid City.
Architecture
Rapid City High School is a four-story, steel-framed,
Beaux-Arts-style building on a concrete foundation. Its ground floor exterior is encased in
Kasota limestone
Kasota limestone or simply, Kasota stone, also called Mankato stone, is a dolomitic limestone found in southern Minnesota, especially near the Minnesota River and its tributaries. This sedimentary rock is part of the Oneota Dolomite of southern ...
, while the upper levels are all red brickwork with more decorative limestone
molded
Molding (American English) or moulding (British and Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the process of manufacturing by shaping liquid or pliable raw material using a rigid frame called a mold or matrix. This itself may have ...
dentil
A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Reviv ...
s. The parapet rising above its flat roof is topped with simple limestone blocks; just below this parapet sits a metal
cornice
In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...
. The lower three stories were part of the original structure in 1923, and the fourth floor was not added until 1948. The main entrance on Columbus Street projects out slightly from the rest of the building, with access provided by a set of concrete stairs. "Rapid City High School" is engraved in the limestone veneer above the front entryway. This entrance is flanked by two metal lampposts on either side. The entire area of the building is . Two courtyards divide the separate wings of the buildings; they were originally covered by
skylight
A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes.
History
Open ...
s, but these were removed in 1977.
The
auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...
dates back to 1937. The stage measures deep and long. Two sets of stairs lead from the auditorium to the stage, and a small
gallery
Gallery or The Gallery may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Art gallery
** Contemporary art gallery
Music
* Gallery (band), an American soft rock band of the 1970s
Albums
* ''Gallery'' (Elaiza album), 2014 album
* ''Gallery'' (Gr ...
houses the stage's light and curtain mechanisms. The interior is intricately designed; a
proscenium arch
A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...
rises above the stage. The upper part of the auditorium and the ceiling include intricate molding that camouflage the steel support
joist
A joist is a horizontal structural member used in framing to span an open space, often between beams that subsequently transfer loads to vertical members. When incorporated into a floor framing system, joists serve to provide stiffness to the s ...
s. When originally constructed, it could house 1,402 audience members.
Notable alumni
*
Helen Duhamel
Helen S. Duhamel (November 26, 1904 – November 8, 1991) was an American businesswoman and broadcaster, best known for saving the Duhamel Company from bankruptcy and establishing a cluster of radio and television stations in western South Dakota ...
, businesswoman and broadcaster
References
External links
*
*
{{NRHP in Pennington County, South Dakota
School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in South Dakota
National Register of Historic Places in Pennington County, South Dakota
Buildings and structures in Rapid City, South Dakota
1923 establishments in South Dakota
School buildings completed in 1923
Public high schools in South Dakota
Schools in Pennington County, South Dakota
Education in Rapid City, South Dakota
Public Works Administration in South Dakota
Educational institutions established in 1923
Cultural depictions of Calvin Coolidge