Monroe Elementary School Historic District

The story

Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com

The Monroe Elementary School Historic District is a historic district at 3200 Pioneer Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids, Linn County, listed in the National Register in 2015. Its building was designed by Brown & Healey, William Brown and Ted Healey, and built in 1961 in the Modern Movement style.

Why it's listed

It was listed under criteria A and C, with local-level significance in education and architecture. Its period of significance runs from 1961 to 1965, reflecting the school's 1961 construction and a 1965 addition to Madison Elementary.

Physical character

The school has brick walls on a concrete foundation, laid in common bond, under a flat metal roof, with steel-frame windows. Its plan is an asymmetrical pinwheel on a steel and reinforced concrete frame, with exposed I-beams and expansive glazing. Inside, glazed ceramic tile walls, an acoustical tile ceiling and asphalt tile flooring line the long corridors, with pink and blue tile bathrooms. A multi-purpose room includes a stage, and a canopy was added over the entrance around 1963. The 7.89-acre grounds hold a paved playground, historic basketball hoops and fire engine-shaped play equipment; temporary classrooms were added around 1995.

Historical context

The school was associated with the Cedar Rapids School District, and a 1959 bond issue preceded its 1961 construction. At its listing, the school served as a school and its grounds as an outdoor recreation area, and a hand-painted mural had been added in 2007.