Lakeview School
- This article is about the former Birmingham school. For the private school, see Lakeview Day School, for the Tuscaloosa County school, see Lake View Elementary School.
Lakeview School is a former Birmingham City School located at 2801 Clairmont Avenue. It was planned as early as 1890, but had to be postposed due to the economic fallout from the Panic of 1893. The original red brick building, designed by Wheelock, Joy and Wheelock architects, opened in 1901 for grades 1-4, with 12 additional classrooms for grades 5-7 completed in 1909.
A playground, later named Underwood Park for Oscar Underwood, was constructed across 28th Street. The park was later moved to allow for expansion of St Vincent's Hospital.
Artists Frank and Martha Anderson were commissioned through the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration to produce a mural of scenes of discovery for the Lakeview School.
In 1976 Lakeview School was made over as an alternative school offering an "Arts-in-Education" curriculum. Branko Medenica's 15-foot-tall sculpture, "Resurgence" was installed to mark the occasion.
The school building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 17, 1977. The school soon closed, and was sold in 1981. The pedestrian tunnel to Underwood Park under 28th Street South was filled and sealed off.
The building currently houses offices for Leo Ticheli Productions, Boyd Fernambucq & Vincent and others.
Principals
- Nannie Davis, 1901-
- J. C. Orr, 1928
- J. R. Gardner, c. 1940
- Osborne Farr, c. 1950
References
- "Lakeview School" typescript history (c. 1958) Birmingham Board of Education, Research Department, microfilm at Birmingham Public Library Archives, AR454
- Satterfield, Carolyn Green (1976) Historic Sites of Jefferson County, Alabama. Birmingham: Jefferson County Historical Commission/Gray Printing Company
- Rocker, Maggie & Sammie Auer (February 19, 2016) "Time capsule mystery from 1976 cracked in AL.com Vintage photos." The Birmingham News