Wilshire School, built as a WPA project in 1936, pre-dated Wilshire Junior High School and the School of Continuing Education. However, the architectural styles have been retained, earning the facility the Fullerton Heritage Preservation Award for 2009.COURTESY OF THE CITY OF FULLERTON
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Fullerton Heritage honors the SCE Wilshire Center
2009 Preservation Award presented to college district officials for retaining historic look.
By BARBARA GIASONE
The Orange County Register
FULLERTON – The School of Continuing Education Wilshire Center at the northeast corner of Lemon Street and Wilshire Avenue literally lives up to its name.
Students first occupied a red-brick schoolhouse on the site in 1890. After the 1933 Long Beach earthquake struck, the facility was rebuilt as Wilshire School through a WPA-funded project. The complex became Wilshire Junior High School in the mid-1950s until the North Orange County Community College District acquired the property in the early 1980s.
Through the years, the school has never lost its historic look – or its student body.
In the past few years, $4.9 million in the college district's Measure X bond funds have been used to remodel the building – and retain the traditional look.
Fullerton Heritage Preservation members kept tabs on the effort and, on June 28, awarded the district the Fullerton Heritage Preservation Award for 2009.
Longtime Heritage member Tom Dalton presented a plaque to recognize "the best example of a preservation/adaptive reuse building project within the city of Fullerton."
Provost Christine Terry, Interim Dean Vaniethia Hubbard and R2A Architecture's Design Director Lucien Runge accepted the honor.
"They preserved two buildings and did an excellent job of restoring them," Dalton said. "They needed additional schoolrooms, and used the Secretary of Interior Standards for Historic Preservation to build a facility similar to the historic buildings, but just different enough to distinguish between the two."
The WPA buildings were designed by Donald Beach Kirby using the Moderne architectural style popular at the time, SCE spokeswoman Jennifer Perez said. When Lemon Street was widened in the 1970s, some of the window openings facing the street were filled in because of traffic noise.
The new 5,000-square-foot administration building with the 21,000 square feet of renovated 100 and 200 buildings were built and renovated to reflect the original architecture.
Windows were re-installed, and a new roof and HVAC system were installed.
Nearly 7,000 students enroll annually in classes at the Wilshire Center, school officials said.
Contact the writer: 714-704-3762 or bgiasone@ocregister.com
Fullerton Heritage honors the SCE Wilshire Center
2009 Preservation Award presented to college district officials for retaining historic look.
By BARBARA GIASONE
The Orange County Register
FULLERTON – The School of Continuing Education Wilshire Center at the northeast corner of Lemon Street and Wilshire Avenue literally lives up to its name.
Students first occupied a red-brick schoolhouse on the site in 1890. After the 1933 Long Beach earthquake struck, the facility was rebuilt as Wilshire School through a WPA-funded project. The complex became Wilshire Junior High School in the mid-1950s until the North Orange County Community College District acquired the property in the early 1980s.
Through the years, the school has never lost its historic look – or its student body.
In the past few years, $4.9 million in the college district's Measure X bond funds have been used to remodel the building – and retain the traditional look.
Fullerton Heritage Preservation members kept tabs on the effort and, on June 28, awarded the district the Fullerton Heritage Preservation Award for 2009.
Longtime Heritage member Tom Dalton presented a plaque to recognize "the best example of a preservation/adaptive reuse building project within the city of Fullerton."
Provost Christine Terry, Interim Dean Vaniethia Hubbard and R2A Architecture's Design Director Lucien Runge accepted the honor.
"They preserved two buildings and did an excellent job of restoring them," Dalton said. "They needed additional schoolrooms, and used the Secretary of Interior Standards for Historic Preservation to build a facility similar to the historic buildings, but just different enough to distinguish between the two."
The WPA buildings were designed by Donald Beach Kirby using the Moderne architectural style popular at the time, SCE spokeswoman Jennifer Perez said. When Lemon Street was widened in the 1970s, some of the window openings facing the street were filled in because of traffic noise.
The new 5,000-square-foot administration building with the 21,000 square feet of renovated 100 and 200 buildings were built and renovated to reflect the original architecture.
Windows were re-installed, and a new roof and HVAC system were installed.
Nearly 7,000 students enroll annually in classes at the Wilshire Center, school officials said.
Contact the writer: 714-704-3762 or bgiasone@ocregister.com
posted by Connie @ 10:45 AM
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