Nearly a Century of History Uncovered by Demolition

Mary Louise Flood Middle School loomed over the intersection of Broadway and Kenyon in Englewood, Colorado. It appeared mysterious and hulking, its monolithic brick walls pierced only occasionally by louvered windows.

Most passersby were unaware that school's brutal street presence concealed a beautiful, highly-detailed building underneath: the original Englewood High School. The ornate building was unceremoniously covered up in a district-wide school renovation effort in the 1960s, after the high school moved to a new campus and Flood Junior High School called the original building home.

Declining enrollment led to a district reorganization, and Flood Middle School was shuttered in 2007 and abandoned until 2012 when Englewood Schools sold the land to a multifamily residential developer. The entire complex was demolished in the summer of 2013. Its demolition peeled back layers of remodels, and provided a unique glimpse back in time.

The building underneath was constructed in 1919 as Englewood High School. It was built to serve Englewood, Colorado, a rapidly-expanding suburb of Denver. The initial build was a single two-level corridor bookended by an auditorium and a gym.

Very quickly, a growing populous resulted in the school's first major addition in 1926, adding a north wing to house mechanical and engine shops. A decade later, a similar wing was added through the Works Progress Administration, at the south end of the building which expanded classrooms and office space once more.

It was clear by the 1940s that the high school was outgrowing its land. The two new wings reduced the former playing field to a mere courtyard, and the school was in dire need of proper athletic facilities to compete with new rivals. Englewood Schools selected a new site a few blocks away, and construction on the new Englewood High School campus commenced in 1950. The high school moved out in 1951, and the original building was renamed Mary L. Flood Junior High School in honor of the outgoing Englewood High School principal Mary Louise Flood.

Flood Junior High operated with its secondhand facilities in their existing state for nearly a decade before the district embarked on a multi-year expansion and renovation effort on the aging buildings. Englewood Schools hired Denver architect Wheeler + Lewis to undertake the campus update, which included several renovations and additions in phases from 1958 to 1970.

In order to provide more academic space for the growing student population, a semi-circular library was added in 1961 at the back of the original wing, followed by a new connector wing in 1963 that joined the two ends of the "C" shaped complex into a donut, forming a courtyard in the middle.

The building additions were decidedly modern, and 1964 and 1965 saw the beginnings of the "modernist" aesthetic begin to take over the rest of the existing buildings. Ornate details, windows, and columnades and  were removed or covered with smooth beige brick, aligning with the district's architectural standards at the time.

Inside, ceilings were lowered, mechanical systems installed, carpet and tile covered up wood floors, and new drywall covered plaster and lathe walls. The original gymnasium and auditorium also saw major changes. The 1960s renovations saw the exposed wood trusses covered by lowered ceilings, and their large windows filled in and concealed with new interior walls.

1966 and 1967 saw the addition of the circular band room on the south end, and reconfiguration of the floor plan in the 1926 north wing to improve circulation in tandem with the new east wing. Final exterior alterations concluded in 1970, with the addition of the "large gym" adjacent to the original gymnasium. This left the former Englewood High School completely unrecognizable, completing the identity transformation to Flood Junior High School.

Declining enrollment in the mid-2000s forced Englewood Schools to take a critical look at its aging and underused building stock as part of a strategic district reorganization. Both Flood and its sibling school, Sinclair Middle School, had been sitting at less than 50% capacity for several years.

Unlike Sinclair, Flood's age, layout, and site configuration posed significant challenges. Its wood frame was deteriorating, and its sloping site and ample use of stairs would require significant investment to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, enacted over a decade after the school's last construction efforts.

Ultimately, it was decided that the two middle schools would be combined into a new entity, Englewood Middle School, and would reside at the newer Sinclair Middle School property which would be remodeled under the district plan.

In 2006, students left the building for good, leaving Flood Middle School abandoned. It took seven years for the district find a suitable buyer for the property, during which time the building was repeatedly broken into and vandalized.

In 2012, the property was sold to Wood Partners, a Denver-based multifamily developer. Wood Partners announced plans to demolish Flood Middle School and replace it with two low-rise residential buildings.

Asbestos abatement commenced in early 2013, and by the end of the summer, the 97-year old building was gone. By fall of 2015, a 306-unit luxury apartment complex stood in its place.

Below are some moments from Flood Middle School's final days.