In the heart of Aberdeen, just a step away from the towering Federal Building, the active and vibrant Civic Arena, and the K.O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library, sits a forgotten piece of Aberdeen’s history. The old Central High School building remains in use for clubs and alumni gatherings, but its neighbor stands quietly on the west side.
The Washington School building, once used to educate Aberdeen’s elementary and high schoolers, still showcases its architectural charm from the outside. Inside, however, tells a different story. The building has been unused since Central High School relocated in 2004, as evidenced by peeling paint and old flooring. So, how did it end up this way?
Hallway of the 2nd floor
The History
In the early days of Aberdeen, there was a trend of naming schools after United States presidents. In 1883, the original Washington School was built where the Roosevelt Apartments stand today. At the time, it was home to Aberdeen High School. Soon after it was renamed to Lincoln. It was home to multiple grades, with elementary on the first floor and high school on the second floor. But enrollment changed quickly, and there was a significant increase in students. In 1886, the old Lincoln School was renovated thanks to additions and revamps. As a result, the school was renamed to Washington. Another older Lincoln School would be built next to Washington in 1889.
Central High School opened in 1912 to accommodate 500 students amid steadily growing enrollment. The school was named for its central location in Aberdeen. Meanwhile, Washington High School was turned back into an elementary school, and Lincoln School was demolished for Central.
The old Washington Building was eventually torn down as well, and the Washington Building that stands today was built in 1922 and was also used as an elementary school. The new Washington Building mimics the style of the 1912 Central High School building with the hipped clay-tile roof, wide overhanging eaves, and emphasis on horizontal lines. The building had 10 classrooms throughout the first and second floors. The basement originally had two spacious game rooms that could be converted into auditoriums with curtains. Both genders had locker rooms as well as a boys-only shower room.
According to school board documents, the school opened in September with 330 students and ten teachers. Within a month, the school had gained 50 students thanks to transfers and new arrivals.
The growing number of enrollments caused problems for the school district. In 1920, there were 2,200 students and by 1930, there were almost 3,500. The school district was forced to rezone its school system. The earliest known instance of this was in 1929. According to Central High School’s newsletter The Blue & Gold, three sections of Roosevelt Junior High’s 7B grade were sent over to Washington due to the high number of students. Elementary schedules were smaller compared to older students, and kids were often bunched in crowded classes because of the high attendance. At that time, Roosevelt had an enrollment of 569 students.
This would mark the end of Washington’s home to elementary students. Central High School suffered the problem of high attendance, which caused the board to make a drastic change. In 1931, construction for the Civic Arena was approved, and in August, Central would absorb the Washington Building, turning it into a senior high school. This caused 225 students to move to other schools in Aberdeen, including Adams, Simmons, Garfield, and McKinley.
The Washington Building’s first use was for Central’s home economics suites, a large print shop, an art room, and a gymnasium that was temporarily utilized as a music room. Soon, social studies and history classes were held there too. By the late 1930s, enrollment at Central had almost doubled from its capacity. With such high enrollment, the school district finally added the auditorium in 1938, which prompted Washington to be connected to Central via a new expansion. Students no longer had to go outside to attend their classes in the main building.
In 1940, high school enrollment started to decrease, which started a back-and-forth transition between using the building as a junior high school and senior high school. New classes were added, including video production. The building was then turned into an administrative building, and its final use was as the Independent Learning Center during the late 1990s and 2000s.
A New Direction For The Building
In the early 2000s, the Aberdeen School District was looking for a new direction for Central High School due to another rise in student enrollment. Central also made the change to include ninth graders instead of their usual three-grade level school while Holgate and Simmons Middle Schools dropped the junior high system. A change in Central’s building was needed. Plans included an expansion of the school where a part of Second Avenue would be removed, along with the north parking lot, Washington, and Roosevelt, while Central would become a bigger and newer school. The plan didn’t go through, and Central ended up building a new school south of Melgaard.
In 2002, the Aberdeen Recreation and Cultural Center purchased the campus land from the school district for $1.2 million. After Central officially moved in 2004, the city unanimously approved the ARCC’s plan for the use of the building. Parks and Rec programs such as the dance club and YAPAtorium were moved to old Central while offices were moved to the main Central building. The Roosevelt and Washington buildings were not part of the ARCC’s project, and there was no use for them.
Stairs leading to the first floor (from the basement view)
Neither building complied with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and upgrades for both buildings were too expensive. They both needed new elevators and bathrooms that could accommodate wheelchairs. The area was still a school zone at the time, and it would take even more money and time for other businesses to alter the zone. The ARCC announced that both buildings would be demolished.
This sparked outrage among those that tried to preserve Aberdeen’s historical buildings. Some argued that the school district should have been more consistent in taking care of the buildings. Many people urged for new uses for the building, but the main problem still remained: money. The summer would be a vacant one for Washington and Roosevelt, as one of the roofs had already started to leak, according to an Aberdeen American News article from 2004. There were plans to move the Aberdeen Police Department in, but they declined the offer after it was determined that it was insufficient for a modern police headquarters.
But in a turn of events, the city announced in the fall of 2004 that Washington and Roosevelt would stay. The city reached an agreement with Blackstone’s Developers on the use of buildings. Blackstone’s five-year lease was free while they covered the building’s expenses. They intended to house business ventures, and former Aberdeen Mayor Mike Levsen said that hundreds of jobs could be created.
Their first job was to winterize the building, and the bill was split between the ARCC and Blackstone, as the old Central building was also winterized. Despite this, the building had its utilities and heating cut off in early 2005, and they would remain off until the ARCC found a use for the building. With few opportunities, a research company called IKOR occupied a portion of Roosevelt, leaving Washington vacant, but the company decided to pull out, and Blackstone was on the search for another company to take the buildings.
After years passed with no offers, it was back to the drawing board. The city auctioned off the buildings again in 2013, looking for buyers that would buy one of the two buildings. Surprisingly, Jack Hollinsworth of JDH Construction bought the Roosevelt Building and converted it into an apartment complex. They installed historic lighting and restored other features such as crown molding and wood floors. It was a win for Roosevelt, but unfortunately for Washington, the building still sat vacant.
The Future
As the Washington Building stays in limbo, paint continues to crack and peel and isolated areas leak slightly. The building still had items leftover from when Central High School moved out. Rugs have started to go bad, and matts in the basement’s wrestling practice room are covered with dust. A room on the building’s third floor has had its ceiling fall apart due to water damage. All of these things are a lasting reminder of how a once vibrant building can disappear over the years.
Basement wrestling room.
This classroom still has original cabinets from when the building was built.
According to ARCC Supervisor David Eckert, there have been talks on utilizing the building, but these talks are still in their very early stages. There have been mentions about demolishing the building, but the same problem from years ago still lingers: money. It will be expensive to remove it or fix it up. Parks, Recreation & Forestry Director Matt Braun said that a study for the Washington Building was conducted years ago, and the cost then was about $55,000 to fix it up and detail a plan for future use.
From the days of students running between Washington and Roosevelt for their next classes, only memories remain to fill in the silence. The building still stands, waiting for whatever comes next…
View more articles about:
- Share
