Throwback Thursday – George T. Donoghue Elementary School

We visit Chicago, September 1963 for the grand opening of the George T. Donoghue Elementary School for this weeks Epstein Throwback Thursday. This 70,000 sf educational facility located at the corner of Cottage Grove and Ellis on Chicagos South Side was constructed in an amazing 8-month timeframe allowing Donoghue to open for the beginning of the 1963 school year.

George T. Donoghue, a courtyard design school, located on a 3.5 acre site, consisted of 30 classrooms, two kindergartens, an auditorium which sat 500 people, a gymnasium, a library and miscellaneous space like administrative offices, lunchroom and faculty lounge.

This school still stands and architecturally looks very much like it did back in 1963. The only glaring modification to the building can be seen on the 37^th Street elevation which indicates that much of the glazing has been modified and filled with masonry, thereby mitigating the nice modernist lines of the original design.

Lastly, the biggest change to Donoghue is that its no longer a Chicago Public School. In 2005 it was converted to a University of Chicago Charter School and has become a part of the greater North Kenwood/Oakland Charter School Campus.