Las Vegas High School Academic Building and Gymnasium
a.k.a. Las Vegas High School Administration Building and Gymnasium
315 S. Seventh St., Las Vegas, NVThe Las Vegas High School Administration Building and Gymnasium are two, architecturally significant buildings associated with the development of public, secondary education in the City of Las Vegas. The buildings are the most sophisticated examples of the Art Deco style in the City and were designed by the Reno architectural firm of George A. Ferris and Son. The Academic and Gymnasium Buildings were erected in 1930-31 as part of a three-building educational complex and reflect the growth and development of Las Vegas during the period of the Hoover Dam construction.
The development of Las Vegas can be traced to the 1905 construction of the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake Railroad. By 1911 the SPLA and SL had established a characteristic western railroad town on the site to serve as a division point between Utah and California. Town development was confined to railroad-related services until the late 1920s. The Congressional approval of the Boulder Canyon Act in 1928 spurred a period of intensive development for the community. This legislation provided funds for preliminary work on a dam for the Colorado River. The project, which resulted in the construction of the nearby Hoover Dam, was responsible for a 125% population increase in Las Vegas between 1920 and 1930. From an isolated railroad service center, Las Vegas expanded to a modest city providing services to the dam project as well as the tourists attracted by its construction.
In recognition of Las Vegas'increased population and the role of education facilities in attracting a stable, permanent population, the local school district led by superintendent Maude Frazier proposed the construction of a high school complex. The proposed project met with limited community resistance based on project costs, the size of the proposed complex, and its site, then two blocks from the center of town.
Despite this opposition, a $350,000 City bond issue was passed in 1930 for the construction of a three-building high school complex encompassing a Shop Building (d.c.1950) and the existing Academic and Gymnasium Buildings. The complex was designed by architects George A. Ferris and Son and constructed by the Ryberg and Sorenson Construction Company of Salt Lake City. Work on the high school complex was begun in 1930 and completed by September of the following year.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.