I'm interested in learning more about R. H. Hunt & Company and I wonder if anyone here is familiar with the name or the various buildings he and his firm built.
In Beaumont, the 87-year old South Park school is about to be demolished. It once housed South Park Junior College, which in time became Lamar University. The Beaumont Independent School District is determined beyond measure to sacrifice this beautiful structure in the name of progress, despite it's sturdy condition and timeless beauty.
A group of citizens and alumni from the now defunct South Park High School are fighting tooth-and-nail to prevent demolition of this Beaumont landmark, photos of which (c. 1965, with comments from an alumnus; and c. 1997) you see below.
In today's research, I discovered that the firm who designed the lovely structure was the R. H. Hunt Company. I would love to know more about Mr. Hunt and perhaps learn of some of his other buildings in the region. One of the district's claims is that they do not have original plans for the building. What are the chances of an archive existing somewhere for a building designed by a well-known (for his time) architect? Establishing South Park as important in any ways that we can may give us some leverage in the fight to save it from destruction.
Thank you in advance for any input.
Debra
Right. All the district's excuses are cheap and lame. As for the cost, I'm pretty sure most of the asbestos was remediated back in 1983 when the hideous black windows were added (and the wooden lockers were replaced with high-falutin' metal ones). The school has been operational since 1923, but some modernization has been done along the way. The reported figures to update and upgrade were about $14 million, while the projected cost for demolition and construction of a new McSchool is roughly $29 mil. Thanks for the blueprint info; that's good to know.