Image: McKee Training School, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC (32765954228)

Description: These are two of the buildings constructed by the Works Progress Administration building program at Western Carolina University during the late 1930s, Hoey Auditorium, named for then-North Carolina governor Clyde Hoey, and the McKee Training School, named for Sylva resident and first female state representative Gertrude Dills McKee. The two buildings are relatively plain and unadorned, with some minor Classical Revival derailing around the front entrances, and were built at a time when the university was Western Carolina Teacher’s College, which focused on training educators. The training school, built with a unique construction method, was home to the local public elementary school and high school from 1939 until 1964, when the school moved to the Cordelia Camp Laboratory School elsewhere on campus. The building was originally symmetrical when built, but a two-story addition in 1955 threw off the balance and did not match with the rest of the building well, though more recent alterations, including replacement of the windows and exterior staircase, have made it more similar to the original building. Since 1964, the old McKee Training School has been in use as a classroom building by the university. The Hoey Auditorium, meanwhile, housed the institution’s fledgling music program, which has grown into one of its best programs, and was originally an assembly and performance hall for both the university and the public school, which was later supplanted by newer facilities elsewhere, including the Ramsey Activity Center, Coulter Building, and the Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center. The auditorium received a major renovation in 1988, which reduced the seating capacity, added a covered porch onto the front facade, and closed up the building’s windows, but modernized the interior of the theatre and allowed it to continue to function for the university. Today, both buildings are relatively intact, but there are plans being floated to demolish Hoey Auditorium, which I hope are not carried out, as it helps balance out the McKee Building next door, and is quite easily adaptable due to its shape and good condition.
Title: McKee Training School, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC (32765954228)
Credit: McKee Training School, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC
Author: Warren LeMay from Cincinnati, OH, United States
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Zero, Public Domain Dedication
License: CC0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en
Attribution Required?: No