herr2ck: Sacks Fifth Avenue

Photo of site from March 2026.

5th Avenue Elementary School was one of Columbus’s more architecturally distinguished schools. As was unfortunately common for Victorian architecture, the building was heavily altered over time and eventually demolished for the construction of a new school (which of course lacked any architectural merit whatsoever). This replacement was recently razed as well for the construction of…a 5-over-1.

5th Avenue Elementary was located at 210 West 5th Avenue in the Dennison Place neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. It was bordered by houses to the north, 5th Avenue and commercial buildings to the south, Highland Street to the east, and Forsythe Avenue to the west.

History

Historic photo of 5th Avenue Elementary as it was built. (Wikimedia)

5th Avenue Elementary was built in 1886. Its architect is unknown, but it seems to be a work of High Victorian Gothic architecture, judging by its brick construction and Gothic ornamentation. The design featured a prominent central tower with a tall roof, rising about 1.5x the height of the rest of the building. Each wing of the school featured prominent gables along the roofline as well.

A view of the school in 1953 after removal of its tower.

5th Avenue Elementary’s third floor was removed in 1954 during a renovation, and its tower was truncated before 1953 and replaced with a much simpler hipped roof. The school closed in 1976 and was demolished soon afterwards.

Google Maps snapshot of the exterior in 2011.

After demolition of the historic school, a Modernist design replaced it, which was only a single story and much more sprawling. This school was known as Fifth Avenue School and faced Forsythe Avenue. The school closed once again in the early 2010s and briefly housed a music school, before it too was demolished in 2019. The site is now an apartment complex known as Makley Place.

Photos

I apparently confused this building with old Central High School in my head (which has a similar design but is placed at a corner) and only got this picture from the corner of 5th and Highland. I also didn’t care to play Crossy Roads with the busy 5th Avenue traffic.