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ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION <br />This is a two and a half story Collegiate Gothic Style school building. It is irregular in <br />plan with a stone foundation. The walls are made of bonded red brick and have <br />limestone details and bases, buttresses and stringcourse of Bedford stone. Its roof is <br />cladded in slate with parapeted gables, limestone raking cornice and copper gutters <br />and downspouts. The building also boasts a battlemented square front tower which <br />projects and rises an additional story above the main roof. The main entry has 3 -leaf <br />wood panel doors with glass transoms and is set in an ogee limestone archivolt. <br />There is a three part leaded casement window unit with transoms and carved ogee <br />crown above the main portal. The building also has a limestone cased bay window <br />with leaded casements and surmounts. Other entries are scattered around the <br />building and set in gabled vestibules with ogee archivolts and transoms. The <br />remaining windows are coursed double casements with transoms set in limestone <br />surrounds. The school also has tiered steps, parking lot in the rear and a wide front <br />yard. <br />RECOMNIENDATION <br />Based on the Historic Preservation Commission's Local Landmark Criteria's adopted <br />by the Common Council, the building at 312 Donmoyer has been recommended to the <br />Common Council for designation as a Local Landmark by Historic Preservation <br />Commission. <br />The building meets the criteria in at least three areas: <br />1.) Its character, interest, or value as part of the development, heritage, or culture of <br />the City of South Bend, St. Joseph County, the State of Indiana, or the United States <br />of America. <br />2.) Its embodiment of elements of architectural design, detail, materials, or <br />craftsmanship which represents an architectural characteristics or innovations. <br />3.) Its suitability for preservation. <br />The building fulfills criteria #1 by its association with the growth of South Bend and the <br />increasing population of its south central side during the late 1920s and early 1930s. <br />The school was constructed to help eliminate the over crowded conditions of existing <br />schools which was caused by a large influx of new residents and high birth rate. <br />The building fulfills criteria #2 as an excellent example of a 1930s Collegiate Gothic <br />Style school building. The building is rated a significant 12 in the Indiana Historic Sites <br />and Structures Inventory. <br />