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Laramie High School

Historic Schools Historic Wyoming
 June 8, 2016

By Mary Humstone

June 8, 2016

HISTORY, FACTS, & ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE

• Constructed: 1959-60; Era: Post-WWII/ Cold War

• Architect: Hitchcock & Hitchcock; Builder: Spiegelberg Lumber & Building Co., Inc.

• The building represents the modernist architecture that was enthusiastically adopted by architects in Wyoming and across the country after World War II. Laramie High School features an unusual plan with multiple wings extending from a central core.

• From 1946 to 1960, school enrollment in Wyoming grew by 50 percent, from 55,000 to more than 80,000 students. Laramie High School was built to accommodate part of this growth that was also occurring in Laramie.

• Students of Laramie High School, grades 10 through 12, moved into the building in the fall term of 1960. This marked the first separation of the high school from the junior high (grades 7-9), which remained at the former high school building located on Garfield Street.

COMMUNITY IMPORTANCE

For more than 50 years, the Laramie High School building has provided a creative and comfortable environment for the youth of the community to grow in education, arts, athletics, and as young citizens of Laramie. The Plainsmen and Lady Plainsmen have also brought pride to the community in the Laramie High School gymnasium and at Deti Stadium, the sports complex to the east of the building. Many members of the community still value the memories and experiences this building has provided them, their children, and grandchildren.

CURRENT STATUS

The Laramie High School is currently used as a high school; however, plans are underway for a new high school building on the eastern edge of town. The future of the present building is unknown.

Repurposing existing buildings (as opposed to demolition) is key to a sustainable community. While the Laramie High School may have outgrown this building, the current thinking is that it would be very well-suited to a new Slade Elementary School.

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1 Comment

  • byJan Binder
    Posted June 14, 2016 10:56 am 0Likes

    Hope it has a basement for those Western storms…

Comments are closed.