United States historic place
The Valentine School is a historic school at Grape and Elm Streets in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Built in 1898 to a design by George P. B. Alderman, it is a prominent local eхample of Renaissance Revival architecture.[2] It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983,[1] and included as part of the Springfield Street Historic District in 1991.[2] The building has been converted to residential use.
Description and history
The former Valentine School is located a short way east of downtown Chicopee, at the eastern corner of Grape and Elm Streets. It is a two-story masonry structure, built out of red brick with sandstone trim. Its front, facing Elm Street, consists of a series of stepped projections. Its ground floor is laid in courses that are periodically recessed, giving a rusticated appearance, and is topped by a band of brick corbelling. Windows on that level are set in rectangular openings, with stone sills and lintels. The second floor windows are set in round-arch openings with surrounding sandstone arches. The main entrance is at the center of the facade, recessed with stairs under a large round-arch opening, with a Palladian window on the second floor above. The facade is crowned by a metal cornice with scroll modillions.[3]
The school was built in 1898-99 to a design by George P. B. Alderman, a regionally prominent architect from Holyoke. It was connected by a tunnel to an older school on the same lot, which was demolished in the 1950s. It served as a public school until the 1980s,[3] and has since been converted into apartments, with additional apartment blocks added at one corner of the property.
