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Pocatello High School

Excerpted from “Pocatello High School, The First 100 Years”© 1992 Published by The Pocatellian.

          People called the new school “Pocatello’s Folly.” The stone building was constructed on block 484 during the late spring and summer of 1892. It was generally thought that there would never be enough children to fill it.
          This building, now the central portion (library and administrative offices) of Pocatello High School, was an eight-room structure, the original cost of which was not to exceed $20,000. After holding three bond elections to secure a set of bonds, the Board issued $10,800 of 8 percent bonds. The authorization finally came through in an election on April 30, 1892.          

          Many times in the early days, the schools had great difficulty keeping in operation. By December of 1893, the School Board had only enough money to keep the school open until Christmas. Fortunately the city loaned the schools’ three months expenses if the agreement was cosigned by 30 citizens. This was done and the schools remained in session through March. From 1896 until 1899 schools closed in April.

          The school was the most impressive building in the raw new town and often served as a sort of town square, where band concerts, picnics and athletic contests were held. Twice, presidents of the United States spoke on the grounds of the school, including President Theodore Roosevelt in 1902 and President William Howard Taft in 1908.

          After the additions of 1901 and 1903, fire [was a concern] because the only exit from the second floor was the stairway in the central section. Therefore, fire escapes were constructed in the two recessed areas on the back of the building between the original building and the two new wings. These fire escapes were functional as stairways during regular class days.
          As the high school enrollment grew, it was necessary to improve and expand the facilities. The north side of the upper floor of the central section was remodeled into an assembly room seating 350 people. The roof was trussed and a well-arranged stage with lights and curtains was added. A new chemical laboratory was also added. An alcove outside the assembly room was made into a library and the number of books was doubled.
          The high school department of the building had electric lights [installed] for evening classes and meetings. The various rooms for domestic arts, manual arts, science labs and libraries were provided with the latest equipment. This gave the students every opportunity to prepare themselves for further study or “to take up the work of life.” The high school now consisted of six classrooms and laboratories and the new assembly room.

Disaster Strikes

          The campus trees had matured and given the school a lasting appearance by the 1914-1915 school year, a year that was to be marked by tragedy for the people of Pocatello. On December 16, a bitter cold day, the janitors at the school were having a hard time keeping the building warm. At 11:45 a.m., classes were dismissed for lunch and everyone, except the students who came in on the school wagon and some of the teachers, went home One of the janitors who stayed in the building during lunch noticed smoke in the boiler room at about 12:45 p.m. and mentioned it to the other janitor. They thought it was from some ashes they had been raking from the furnace. They made an investigation, however, and found that fire was smoldering in the ceiling above the furnace. Digging into the plaster in several places showed that the fire was well spread.
          The fire brigade came at once, but the flames had spread to the first and second floors before they arrived. Chemicals and water from hoses were sprayed on the worst parts, but the fire spread gradually and surely throughout the structure.
           “It was just 2:20 when the large school bell, weighing close to 1,000 pounds, crashed from its standard and went smashing through to the basement, giving its last mournful toll in its passage,” reported the Pocatello Tribune. O.B. Steely, chairman of the Board of Trustees said, “Many a tear was in evidence when graduates, parents and friends, attracted to the school grounds by the fire, realized the old dear place was doomed. When the bell fell from its tower, three muffled tones were audible, and it seemed truly fitting to the occasion.”
          By the day’s end the original central section of the building and north wing had been completely gutted. All that remained standing were the stone walls. The second floor of the central section had collapsed into the basement.
          The rebuilt high school was designed to be completely fireproof. The floors and roof were concrete and the walls were of terra cotta tile. The furnace room was placed in a sub-basement outside the building proper. There was no woodwork and the windows had metal frames. Great care was taken in designing the new high school that would not be destroyed by fire.
          Between 1929 and 1933 three bond issues were voted on to remedy the overcrowding by building a new high school at a new location with a larger campus. These three bond elections were defeated. It was not until a proposal was made in 1935 to remodel and add to the old high school that the bonds were finally approved.
          The old building was remodeled and two new wings containing 35 new rooms were constructed at the north and south ends of the building. The old stone part of the building was faced with brick and terra cotta. Since the remodeling of the building and the construction of the new wings were not completed by the fall of 1938, no classes were held in the building until after Christmas.

          In 1974 the central section of the original building was remodeled again. What had been a library on the west side, a long dark hallway in the center, a classroom and a meeting room on the east side, were restored to their 1916 appearance.

          Throughout all the change and all the years, Pocatello High School remained a symbol for the value of education and development of the youth of the community.

          In 1996 the Pocatello School District decided to further renovate the old high school. The renovation occurred while students were still there, though the majority of the work was completed in the summer. The renovation by Myers Anderson Architects, PLLC of Pocatello took three years. In addition to a new gymnasium, the renovation included new flooring, lighting, sidewalks, heating system and more. The building was also brought up to current building codes. A Pocatello High School student also raised funds for new windows that are reminiscent of the building’s original windows. Jerry Myers of Myers Anderson says enough people in the community cared about the old high school building to pass the bonds necessary for renovation. The school district also voted to build the new Century High School while Pocatello High School was renovated. According to Myers, renovation for Pocatello High School cost $40 per square feet while construction for Century High School cost $105 per square feet. “The PHS renovation made great economic sense,” Myers said. In the 2005-2006 school year, 1,140 students attended classes in the renovated building.

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