herr2ck: Dead Man Walking

March 2026.

Columbus Gifted Academy, one of the lottery schools of Columbus City Schools, was originally built as the first North High School in 1892. That building had an addition added to the rear, and in 1927 the original 1892 school was demolished and a new one built in its place. Today, the structure is an odd amalgamation of several different styles.

Columbus Gifted Academy is located at 100 West 4th Avenue in the Victorian Village neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. It is bordered by Greenwood Avenue to the north, 4th Avenue to the south, buildings facing High Street to the east, and Thompson Park to the west.

History

A rendering of the original building, since demolished. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)

According to an 1891 Annual Report of Columbus’s school district, some early history regarding the school is revealed. What is now the Columbus Gifted Academy was commissioned and built as the first North High School (also known as North Side High School). The school district received “competitive plans” on September 23, 1890, and Kremer & Hart’s Romanesque Revival design for the school was approved that December. Other sources attribute Frank Packard as the architect, so this is interesting. Central High School was the only high school in the entire city at the time and it was severely overcrowded by the 1890s, requiring the construction of two additions. North High was the first of the city’s directional high schools--South and East were established in 1898, and West opened in 1907.

A report later sent out in May 1891 by the Committee of Buildings declared that there was “urgent need for the speedy erection of the contemplated North Side High School…Not only will the erection of the building provide High School facilities for the vast population north of the railroad tracks, but by concentrating the higher Grammar pupils at this building, the Eighth avenue, Fifth avenue, First avenue, and Second avenue buildings will be relieved…” [sic] The same report also advocated for the construction of Medary Avenue Elementary School in Old North Columbus.

A postcard of the completed high school from 1909. It’s unclear to me if the original design was modified before construction, or if the tall roof was truncated early in its life. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)

Construction on North High School began in 1892, and the school opened on February 3, 1893. It had 14 rooms and cost $14,000 to build. At first, the building was used by 300 students and eight teachers.

A 1922 photo of Riebel’s addition. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)

A Renaissance Revival addition was built onto the rear of North High School in 1900, designed by David Riebel in 1899. This addition still stands and is the oldest remaining portion of the building today. The structure contains 25 rooms, including an assembly hall and science laboratories.

c. 1930 postcard of the new North High School. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)

Despite the addition, the high school soon outgrew this space. In accordance with the ongoing expansion efforts of the school district in the 1920s due to stricter attendance laws, it received a larger, more modern building in the Old North in 1924. There was controversy about its location as early as 1917, since over 2,000 high school students lived between Hubbard Avenue in the Short North and Arcadia Avenue, where the second North High School stands. Ohio State offered to construct a building on its campus for education students to practice in as well, but they were turned down by the Board of Education, with one member stating “I don’t think high schools have anything to do with college. Let those who want their children to go to college pay the expense of sending them to special prep schools.” (In the end, the University School (now Ramseyer Hall) was built for K-12 students in 1932.)

Nearby Hubbard Avenue School was made into a combined elementary and middle school in 1910 (just the second in both Columbus and the entire country, after Indianola Junior High School), which rapidly became overcrowded and forced hasty modifications to the building. After North High School’s move in 1924, the school district decided to relocate Hubbard’s middle school to the newly vacant 4th Avenue building. It was renamed “Everett Junior High School” after North High School’s first principal, Charles D. Everett.

Howard Dwight Smith’s design for the new Everett Junior High School. (Facebook)

In 1925 or 1926, the former North High School building was demolished, and a new Romanesque Revival building was designed by Howard Dwight Smith to replace it. Some sources speculate that this was because of more stringent building code requirements in the 30 years that had passed since its construction, specifically fire code. The rebuilt school opened in 1927.

A lot of sources spout the same “Greek Revival entrance” that Howard Dwight Smith supposedly added in 1929 as part of the wider Program of Architectural Rehabilitation of Obsolete School Buildings. However, Everett Junior High had just been built and was far from obsolete, and much of these new entrance designs were on older Italianate schools such as Stewart Avenue School and 3rd Street School, which were over 50 years old at the time. The historic photo above also shows both existing entrances as part of the new building. It’s also possible that the new entrance was added to the 1900 addition to the school, which would have been almost 30 years old in 1929, and that entrance was either obscured or demolished for a later addition.

An ivy-covered Everett Junior High in 1950. (All Columbus Data)

Two Modern additions were built onto the school in the 1950s--a one-story cafeteria in 1954 and a two-story auditorium from 1955 to 1956. Both have concrete and steel framing. The adjacent houses were also demolished around this time for athletic fields. A third addition was built sometime afterwards, probably in the 1960s or 1970s. Later, Everett Junior High was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as part of the Near Northside Historic District.

Everett Middle School closed in 2005. The school district used the building as “swing space” until 2010, when it became the 5th Avenue International School. However, that school seemed to have folded shortly afterwards. The Columbus Gifted Academy, which was founded in 2015 and based in the Beck Street School on the south side, moved to the former Everett Middle School in 2017.

Although the Gifted Academy continues to use the space, the building’s closure and even a possible demolition have been planned since 2024. I found an undated resolution passed by the school board (presumably recently), which establishes that the Gifted Academy will be moved to another building by January 31, 2027, and that the building will be demolished thereafter. This is in spite of earlier comments from the district that the closing schools would not be torn down. Their rationale is that the community would otherwise be left with an abandoned building, and the aging school was too expensive to maintain and renovate. I agree to an extent, but it is unfortunate that the school’s sale is not even being considered.

Photos

An oblique view of the school today:

Aside from the modern windows, the exterior is completely original, even down to the cast-iron fencing around the lawn.

The south facade:

I would categorize this as a Romanesque Revival design due to the bond and shade of the brick used, as well as the continuous arcade on the left side. The right side has a blind corbelled design, and according to the Sanborn maps, it originally housed the school’s gymnasium (explaining its windowless nature).

Very close shot of the brick pattern in the gym area, showing the colors and finish of the brick:

The main entrance is surmounted by a vaulted portico, with brick diapering (a repetitive pattern) above:

Detail of the portico:

Columbus Gifted Academy put their seal in what was probably a circular window or something similar:

The pediment and its contingent brickwork:

The masonry work on the school is of high quality, and it’s unfortunate that this will be soon carted off to a landfill somewhere.

The stone foundation seems to be of limestone, with a brown stone water table between it and the brick walls above. The brick itself is laid in uneven, wavy courses, and there is a subtle texture achieved through various recessed and projecting bits:

A closer look at the transition:

The west facade of the school is largely similar and employs the arcaded windows as well:

Branches creeping across the facade almost like the hands of Death…

The western entrance lacks the portico of the southern one, but it has an arched transom window above and the school’s name emblazoned in the adjacent stone:

Detail of the “EVERETT” carving:

The window above is also larger and has a stone balconette, but the miniature pediment above still remains.

That door also marks the midpoint of the school building and the end of Smith’s design--further north is the 1900 Riebel-designed portion, the oldest remaining part of the school:

It has a much more rigid and symmetrical expression, tightly arcaded windows on the third floor, and a crusty metal cornice on top, all features that indicate Renaissance Revival styling.

Floating above the cafeteria:

Detail of the arcade of windows:

As I recall, there was an eerie creaking and drumming noise that kept breaking the silence as I walked around. I couldn’t figure out what on earth was causing it, until I looked up at the cornice and noticed parts of it flapping away in the wind. It seems like certain parts have cracked due to rusting.

This diminutive wing is the 1954 cafeteria addition. The brick and a little cornice at the top are subtle responses to the 1927 school design:

North facade of the 1900 portion--the street was too shallow to get a better angle:

The vaulted windows use dark contrasting stone, which has aged nicely. The cornice, however, has peeled off most of its paint and is beginning to rust:

The 1956 auditorium can also be viewed from here:

It’s not very often that I get to cover a building with demolition impending. (The very first building I ever photographed, The Drake on OSU campus, was in the same boat.) I hope that the school district reconsiders, but I think this one’s fate is sealed.

Sources:

https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/ohio/id/19068/rec/39

https://books.google.com/books?id=K9ZBAQAAMAAJ&q=%22north%20side%20high%22

https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/postcard/id/9847/rec/4

https://clintonvillehistory.com/north-high-school/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourhistoryinohio/posts/426466109003103/

https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/ccs/id/8850/

https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/ccs/id/2516/rec/3

https://columbusunderground.com/concerns-raised-about-possible-demolition-of-historic-school-buildings-bw1/

https://www.shortnorth.com/giftedacademy.html

https://columbusgiftedacademy.ccsoh.us/our-school/about

https://webnerhouse.wordpress.com/tag/columbus-gifted-academy/