2019 Most Endangered Sites
Beck Street School
Year Built: 1884
Address: 387 East Beck Street, Columbus Ohio 43206
Original Building Use: School
Owner: Columbus City Schools
This stately masonry school building, evoking a Richardsonian Romanesque style, features symmetry, intricate dental detailing and perimeter brackets, and a stone arch. Beck Street School was designed by David Riebel, the first architect of Columbus Schools, and has stood in historic Schumacher Place near German Village for 135 years. Riebel designed nearly 40 Columbus public schools between 1891 and 1921, and they are some of our most notable landmarks. The building rests on a massive stone foundation and reflects the civic value accorded to education at the time.
Why is this Site Endangered?
The Beck Street School is vacant and the Columbus Board of Education faces the decision of declaring it surplus or putting it back in service. The building and its adjacent lot will be valuable property for redevelopment.