MANITOWOC – Manitowoc’s Luling School, most recently known as McKinley, has been placed on the Wisconsin Register of Historic Places.
“The Luling School is distinctive in the city of Manitowoc as an early graded elementary school that is differentiated from earlier or contemporaneous small ward schools that are reminiscent of late 19th century educational trends,” the Wisconsin Historical Society states in its online listing for Luling School.
The former school, at 1010 Huron St., is currently owned by The Neighborhood and is being renovated into studio and one-bedroom apartments that will be offered to people transitioning out of local shelter programs.
Luling School was constructed in 1892 with cream brick and exhibits characteristics of the Italian Renaissance Revival style with the gymnasium addition in the Neoclassical style, according to a news release from the Wisconsin Historical Society.
When Luling School was built, it was a small-ward school. Two large additions were added after 1907 when the local population increase coincided with statewide compulsory attendance laws.
The auditorium-gymnasium addition was built in 1938 with the assistance of the Public Works Administration. The interior features wooden arched laminate beams across the ceiling, the first use of such beams in Manitowoc.
After World War II, local schools were consolidated as the population shifted away from the city center. In 1964, the school was remodeled to accommodate a declining population and was closed in 1977.
After the school was closed, the building was repurposed to be used as an office building for the school district until 2007, when it was reopened and renamed McKinley Alternative Academy. The school was closed for good in 2019 when the academy was moved to the Stangel Learning Center under a large-scale restructuring plan.
In August 2024, The Neighborhood purchased the building, and the 2 acres it sits on, for $360,000.
Alisa M. Schafer is a reporter for the Herald Times Reporter in Manitowoc. She can be reached by email at aschafer@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Former McKinley Academy building in Manitowoc added to state Register of Historic Places
Reporting by Alisa M. Schafer, Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter / Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter
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