PLAN OF BUILDING FOR HARTFORD HIGH SCHOOL.-1869. THE following minute description of the new building erected for the accommodation of the English and Classical High School in 1868-9, is taken, slightly abridged, from a pamphlet respecting the history, studies, and statistics of the school, issued in 1871, by the Principal, S. M. Capron. The building is located on the abrupt southern brow of Asylum Hill, overlooking the Park, on Hopkins street, which receives its name from Governor Hopkins, the largest benefactor of the Grammar School (founded under the Act of 1650 and 1672, and incorporated in 1798), which now forms the Classical Department of the High School. The lot is 305 feet front, and 295 feet deep. The building itself in its external dimensions is 100 by 85 feet, and stands about 60 feet back from the street. It is of a mixed architecture, the Norman style, however, predominating, and consists of two stories, with a raised basement, and surmounted with a Mansard roof, making practically four stories. The foundation is of Portland freestone, carried up to the middle of the basement-windows, and overlaid by a water-table of Ohio sandstone. The window-sills and belt-courses are also of the Ohio stone; the window-caps on the front and on the main towers are arched with blocks of the same, alternating with the Portland stone; the others are ornamented brick caps, with an Ohio keystone. Of the Ohio stone, also, are the tablet over the main entrance with the inscription PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL, and upon the front wall of the building the representation of a half globe in relief, having the outlines of the American continent and meridians carved upon it. The walls are double, bound together by iron ties, the exterior wall of Boston faced brick, and the whole 20 inches thick, with a four-inch air-space. between, for the purpose of intercepting moisture, and promoting a uniform temperature through the building. The mansard roof is covered with a uniform brown slating; the upper roof is tinned, and surrounded by an ornamental castiron snow-guard.. In the north-east corner of the building is the observatory tower, 120 feet in height. The observatory itself is an octagonal room about 12 feet in diameter, with windows upon all sides, having an unobstructed prospect in all directions, but not constructed for fixed astronomical instruments. Below this is the clock-room, containing a fine clock with four dials. Another tower, 68 feet high, on the south-east corner, is occupied by the ventilating shaft, around which the boys' staircase ascends. The main entrance is on the eastern front, ornamented with brown stone columns, having foliated capitals and bases of Ohio stone, and is approached by a flight of stone steps with a heavy balustrade. The entrance-doors for the girls are on the north side, one leading into the first story, the other directly beneath into the basement. Similar entrances for the boys are on the south side of the building. The three vestibules are deeply recessed, and paved with a tasselated mosaic of North River stone. In the basement is a gymnasium for the boys, 30 by 40 feet, and 12 feet high, well supplied with apparatus; also a playroom of the same size for the girls. On this floor, also, are water-closets, janitor's rooms, rooms for coal and ashes, and for storage. The entire floor is paved with brick, and cemented. In the first story are four rooms, 30 by 40 feet high, designed for 56 pupils each. One of these is the Principal's room, in which are bell-pulls connecting with gongs in the four stories, and speaking-tubes communicating with different parts of the building. Contiguous to the Principal's room, and between it and the front entrance, is the library and reception-room. On each side of the entrance are wardrobe-rooms for the teachers, supplied with marble basins and other conveniencies. The wardrobe-rooms for the pupils on this floor are four 403 A, Coal Rooms. B, B, Boilers. C, C, Store Rooms. D, D, Gymnasia. E, E, Passage Ways. F, F, Staircase Passages. G, G, Janitor's Rooms. H, H, Teachers' Closets. I, Boys' Closet. J, Girls' Closet. K, K, Entrances to Basement. V, Ventilating Shaft. A, A, Third Class Rooms. B, Junior Class Room. C, C, Corridors. E, E, In in number, two for each sex, 12 by 11 feet, and 7 feet, or half a story, in height, the middle ones being entered from a landing on the staircase. these rooms the available space for hanging garments, &c., is multiplied by transverse partitions, extending 5 feet inward from the wall, upon which, as well as upon the wall, are stout iron hooks for clothing, all numbered. These rooms are likewise furnished with iron sinks, having self-closing faucets, fixed wooden stools, and other conveniences. On the second floor are two session-rooms, 30 by 40 feet, for 56 pupils each, and one somewhat larger, 30 by 50 feet, to accommodate 75 pupils, in which are two cases for philosophical instruments, 7 by 6 feet, inclosed with glass frames to the ceiling, so as to be nearly dust-tight. On this floor, also, is the laboratory, 24 by 39 feet, well furnished with chemical apparatus, and provided with sliding window-shutters, so arranged by means of an adjustable panel, that light can be entirely excluded or admitted only through apertures from one-half inch to three inches in width, as may be desired in optical experiments. To enable a class to see experiments more readily, the operating table and pneumatic trough are placed on the level of the floor, from which settees, enough to seat 60 pupils, rise in four tiers upon platforms 5 inches high. In the rear of the laboratory, but not connecting with it, is a large recitation-room, 16 by 30 feet. For the pupils in the second story two wardrobe-rooms are provided, 21 by 11 feet, and of full height, furnished in all respects like those below. The third story, which is in the Mansard roof, is occupied chiefly by the hall or chapel, a large room, 60 by 87 feet, and 22 feet in height, used every morning for devotional exercises, and many times a week for other purposes. It is capable of seating 800 to 1000 persons, and will therefore be useful on public occasions, such as graduation-day, &c. The roof is supported by six trusses, and a large ventilator opens directly to the external air, to be used whenever other means of ventilation are not sufficient. In this room are cabinets of minerals and shells, and connecting with it, as well as with the stairways, are two recitation-rooms, each 16 by 25 feet. All the partitions from the basement to the third story are of solid brick, and as the two stairways and the various corridors are inclosed within brick walls, the building may be regarded as quite secure against possible danger to the pupils or a crowded assembly in case of fire. The floors also are made partly fire-proof by a thick layer of laths and deafening mortar. The interior of each room is fitted with inside blinds and moulded back linings, and the walls are prepared with slated blackboards. The entire inside finish of the building for doors, windows, wall-lining, &c., is of soft brown ash. The wood is gummed to fill the grain and then oiled. The floors are of southern pine. The corridors are 8 feet, and the stairways 6 feet wide, the latter of easy ascent, well lighted, and strongly built. Four of the session-rooms have windows opening into the corridors, by which a more free circulation of air can be secured when necessary, the lower sashes having only ground glass. Heating Apparatus. The building is heated with a low-pressure, steam-heating apparatus. There are four tubular wrought iron boilers, located in a small room just outside the basement, and so arranged that they can be worked conjointly or separately. Connected with these boilers, and in the basement, are thirty-two stacks of radiators, each having a cold air duct of its own, and so constructed that the external surface of the radiators is fully three times as great as the internal surface. Hence the heat is liberated at a much lower temperature than the steam inside; and the cold air from outside, after being strained through these radiators, has a genial warmth imparted to it, without being at the same time robbed of its moisture. From these radiators hot-air flues pass, as from an ordinary furnace, to every room above the basement and to the corridors, being located on the weather-sides of the building, wherever this is possible. The hot-air flues are not interconnected, thus making it possible for the heat to be unequally distributed, but each room has its own separate stack of radiators. The radiators are of cast iron, and in number four hundred and twenty, each having ten feet of radiating surface, or in the aggregate forty-two hundred. The pressure of steam on the boilers is limited to three pounds per square A, A, A, Fourth Class Rooms. B, Senior Class Room. C, C, Corridors. D, D, Vestibules. E, E, Wardrobe Rooms. F, Reception Room. G, Library. H, H, Staircase Halls. I, Main Entrance. J, Boys' Entrance. K, Girls' Entrance. V, Ventilating Shaft. v, v,Ventilating Register. A, Large Hall. B, B, Recitation Rooms. C, C, Staircase Halls. D, D, Cabinets. V, Ventilating Shaft. v, Ventilating Registers. |