| Broad Street School | |
| Location: | 100 Broad Street, Norwich, Connecticut |
| Coordinates: | 41.5347°N -72.0764°W |
| Architect: | Potter, Wilson |
| Architecture: | Romanesque |
| Added: | January 19, 1984 |
| Area: | 0.8acres |
| Refnum: | 84001162 |
| Nrhp Type2: | cp |
| Nocat: | yes |
| Designated Nrhp Type2: | May 12, 1989 |
| Partof: | Chelsea Parade Historic District |
| Partof Refnum: | 88003215 |
The Broad Street School is a historic former school building at 100 Broad Street in Norwich, Connecticut. The school was designed by New York City architect Wilson Potter and built in 1897. It is a well-executed and well-preserved example of Romanesque styling, and was the largest school built as part of a major construction program by the city.[1] The schoolhouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 19, 1984. It has been converted to residential use.
The Broad Street School building is located in a residential area north of downtown Norwich, on a lot bounded on the north by Rockwell Street and the south by Broad Street. It is a two-story masonry structure, with a granite foundation, yellow brick exterior with trim elements of brown brick and granite, and slate hip roof. It is T-shaped in layout, with a central block flanked by slightly projecting wings, and a projecting section at the rear. The central block facade is fronted by a project porch with an arcade of round-arch openings topped by a low balustrade. The arches are finished in brown brick, with a brick string course separating the arches from the porch eave. The exterior brick was made in New Galilee, PA. by the Beaver Clay Mfg, CO. [1]
The school was built in 1897 to a design by Wilson Potter, a well-known New York City architect who had already executed several commissions for Connecticut school districts. The building's relatively high-style architecture is probably due in part to its placement in what was at the time Norwich's elite residential neighborhood. The school exemplified state-of-the-art thinking about school buildings, providing high ceilings with well-lit classrooms, facilities segregated by grade and sex, and indoor plumbing. The school was among those featured in a state education commissioner's report in 1902.[1] The school close in the late 1970s, and has been converted to residential use.