South Shore High School
(photos by Lee Bey)
City officials are planning a new $50 million South Shore High School--a 200,000sq ft, LEED "Silver" building to be built at 75th and Jeffrey at Rosenblum Park, about a block north of the present campus pictured above.
This news made me curious about the current South Shore High School building at 76th and Constance. It looks like a low-security prison, with its slit windows and industrial beige paint job, but South Shore was envisioned as a triumph in school design--a place were educational possibilities would be limitless---when plans for the campus were unveiled in 1965. It never quite turned out that way though...
School Supt. Benjamin C. Willis--a real piece of work himself--showed off the new design at the South Shore Country Club in Sept. 1965. The school would have carpeted classrooms and closed circuit television (for teaching, not security). An outdoor theater, skating rink and an indoor auditorium would be used by students and the community. Motorized walls allowed teachers to change the size and configuration of their classrooms. A skybridge over 76th Street would connect the new building with the older South Shore High (which still exists) to the south.
The $4 million budget made it the most expensive high school in the city.
But the building had difficulty fulfilling its promise. When South Shore opened in 1968, portions of the building were still under construction and the pricetag had grown to $6 million due to overruns and delays. Features like the skybridge never materialzed. An investigation found shoddy work, such as hot water pipes connected to drinking fountains.
Moreoever, hopes that the new school would help stabilize the then racially-changing South Shore neighborhood were unfounded.
As far as the new South Shore High School that is currently being planned, bids on the project are expected to begin by July, according to the city's Public Building Commission. The new building is slated to include a library, art and music facilities, green roofs and open spaces.
