Coronado School

Coronado School is a Public Works Administration (PWA) project begun in 1936 and completed in 1937. One of several school projects completed in Albuquerque by the New Deal, it was constructed as a part of the federal government's efforts to stimulate the nation's depressed economy through a massive public works program. Exemplary of how the New Deal's public works projects affected the welfare of a local community by creating much-needed jobs, the project also resulted in bringing much needed improvement to the community's educational facilities. It is eligible under the Criterion A categories of social history and education. Coronado School is also eligible under Criterion C as an example of the plans, methods of construction, materials and workmanship New Deal projects employed in carrying out hundreds of school construction projects in New Mexico.

Even as Albuquerque suffered from the effects of the Depression, the number of students enrolled in the city's public schools continued to grow. Enrollment jumped from 4,600 students in 1925 to 7,900 students ten years later. This overcrowding was especially apparent in the Third Ward section of the city where many of the students were the children of railroaders who had lost their jobs as the AT&SF reduced its work force at its Albuquerque yard, With an aged, overcrowded school, over fifty of these students were forced to walk out of their neighborhood to attend Lew Wallace School (1935), the city's first PWA school, When the city announced plans to hold a school bond referendum in December, 1935 to raise funds to match PWA grants in order to build a new elementary school as well as additions to the high school, Third Ward parents held a meeting to support the measure.

Although the measure passed with strong support, plans were delayed until PWA monies were released several months later. Many local construction workers found employment on the project for much of 1936 and 1937. The plans for the school were drawn by Louis G. Hesselden, who had become the public school system's architect in the early 1930s. Similar to the plans Hesselden had used for the Lew Wallace School, the plans for the Coronado School represented Hesselden's growing interest in developing a regional style of architecture for large public buildings, an interest that would manifest itself in many of his subsequent school and commercial projects. Working with a two-story rectangle that offered all of the elements associated with modern school facilities including large groups of windows providing natural light, indoor plumbing, high ceilings for improved ventilation, a steam heating system, and fire safety features such as outward-swinging double doors, he trimmed the exterior to evoke a feeling of the Southwest. Details such as the stucco coating, brick coping and flat roof were defining elements of what soon became known as the Territorial Revival Style. At the same time, Hesselden freely borrowed elements from other popular styles including the classical and Spanish Colonial Revival Styles to ornament the entries.