Thursday, October 15, 2015

Lost on the First Floor

Memory is as fleeting as gold, it seems.  Some time ago blogger sat down with a few 5th Street NDA folks and tried to recall the floor plan of each of the old building’s floor—yes, all five of them, not counting the basement.  Where, exactly, was the doorway into that classroom?  Was the stairway here or back here?  That room wasn’t that big, was it?  Wasn’t there a restroom off this hall?  And so the questions and certain answers (I do remember this regardless of evidence to the contrary) flew.


So we offer you a sort of synthesis on the layout of the first floor.  The heavy lines indicate the doors to the outside, while no effort was made to indicate where the windows were.  You can see those features in the second photo.  Also, no classroom or other room doors are indicated.  That memory rests in fuzzy land.


To help you locate yourself on the sidewalk, you are standing at the bottom of the picture.  If you are a student, you will enter the door closest to Senior A.  Don't forget to bow to the statue of Mary (circle with M in it).  If you would like to make a visit before homeroom, go down the hallway to the right of the Mary statue.  The door is slightly ajar.  Gym class (Mrs. Hessler presiding, in the '50s at least) will go outside today, taking the door leading to the courtyard.  (Never mind how your gym suit looks; the guys over at CCH--Mother of God School, can't see you from there.)

Now for the aerial photo of the school which you have no doubt seen before.


So there it is.  Blogger sincerely hopes that Senior Alums will inform her if their memories are sharper than hers.  Maybe you do recall if there was a small restroom under the middle stairs to the second floor.  And what was in the room with a ? in it?  Many things probably need rethinking here, so don't be shy.  Thanks in advance.