Most kids have secret places where they go to disappear and practice being themselves. Comfortable places shared with a close friend or two but sometimes places to just be alone and take in the night air.
During the late ‘50’s - early ‘60’s one of my places was the roof of Montlake Elementary School. The 1924 school design was a typical Floyd Naramore (think NBBJ) design and consisted of a two story main building that housed classrooms, office, nurse’s station, etc., and a long single story western section that housed the Boy’s and Girl’s athletic courts and a large boiler room with coal bunkers.
Floyd recognized that kids would be kids and that the
southern exposure of that roof was low and a no-brainer point of assault for
any curious youth. He also acknowledged
that those seriously overbuilt 2” steel pipe downspouts around the western section
could be climbed by any halfway adventurous youngster so his design
incorporated measures to thwart such assaults.
His drawings called for “Climbing Guards” to be mounted to protect all
weak points.
His Climbing Guard design consisted of 5/8” diameter
downward angled spikes still visible over the Girl’s Gym. They are daunting looking but flawed. The scary-looking spikes were spaced to
impale an adult-sized leg but a skinny athletic kid’s leg fit nicely between
them. It seemed easy and I guess that I
have Floyd to thank for that or maybe the General Contractor who supplied the part.
