801 Grant St Historic Survey - Center for the Arts

Home Browse Search

Resource Number: 5BL7974 1 Temporary Resource Number: NIA Architectural Inventory Form (Page 3 of 5) V. HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS 31. Original use(s): Education I School 32. Intermediate use(s):Recreation and Culture I Museum 33. Current use(s): Recreation and Culture I Museum 34. Site type(s): Municipal Building 35. Historical Background This building was constructed as a school in 1905, to relieve crowding at the Louisville School, located just to the east at the northwest corner of Spruce Street and Jefferson Avenue. Built in 1880-1881, the Louisville School was the community's first truly permanent school. It served as a community school until 1962 when it was razed, after the new elementary school was built on Hutchinson Street. Following this building's construction, the first and second grade classrooms were located here, and later, the building was also used for the high school's industrial arts classes. After the new high school was built on North Main Street in 1939, this building gradually changed use from a school to a community building. Even earlier, though, the building had been briefly utilized as a hospital, by the Red Cross during the influenza epidemic in 1918. In the 1960s, the building's interior was remodeled by the Louisville Lions Club. The Lions Club, and other groups, began holding meetings here, and the building soon became known as the Community Center. Among other activities that took place here, were boy scout meetings, teen dances, and senior center activities. At different times, the building also housed the Louisville Public Library and the Louisville Senior Center. Continuing in this tradition, the building is presently home to the Louisville Arts Center. 36. Sources of Information I Conarroe, Carolyn. The Louisville Story, Louisville: Louisville Times Inc., 1978. Dyni, Anne Quinby. Back to the Basics The Frontier Schools of Boulder County, Colorado 1860- 1960. Boulder: The Book Lode, 1991. "Memory Square Park" (manuscript on file at the Louisville Historical Museum) "The Little Red Schoolhouse" (manuscript on file at the Louisville Historical Museum) Polk's Boulder County Directory[generally published annually], Denver, Kansas City, and Salt Lake City: R.L. Polk and Company Publishers. Polk's Longmont City Directory, [generally published annually], Denver, Kansas City, and Salt Lake City: R.L. Polk and Company, Publishers, 1966 - 1997.