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The role of technical educational facilities and their <br />support of the local economy and growth are an important <br />aspect of the cultural and historical environment of South <br />Bend. The Central High School Vo-Tec building was one of <br />the first buildings in this state to implement this <br />educational mission in a structure especially designed and <br />ideally suited to provide the technically skilled workers <br />(that supported) the burgeoning local industrial growth. It <br />may be the earliest building of this particular importance <br />in existence in this state. <br />The Vo-Tec building and the powerplant are part of the <br />Central High School building and complex; they were <br />necessary elements in the High School's everyday <br />functioning. The Vo-Tec building was erected in response to <br />a 1913 state law requiring a vocational education facility <br />at each high school. It was an especially important aspect <br />of high school education for South Bend, whose growth and <br />prosperity from the 1860's through the 1950's was based on <br />the development and employment of a skilled industrial labor <br />force. Companies such as Studebaker, Singer, Bendix, Oliver <br />and South Bend Lathe required a steady supply of trained <br />technical workers. <br />The Vo-Tec building itself represented the most modern ideas <br />of industrial building design, providing ample sources of <br />natural lighting and an utilitarian and designed working <br />environment. The exterior architectural details repeated <br />