herr2ck: Most Ornamental

January 2026.

Avondale Elementary School is one of many beautiful Richardsonian Romanesque schools in Columbus. It was considered one of the best-designed new schools upon its completion, and it remains in good condition today. The school is also one of David Riebel’s early works immediately before he was made the in-house architect of Columbus City Schools.

Avondale Elementary is located at 141 Hawkes Avenue in the Franklinton neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. It is bordered by State Street to the north, Town Street and the Gladden Community House to the south, Hawkes Avenue to the east, and Avondale Avenue to the west. It is surrounded by houses.

History

Avondale Elementary is one of several schools built by the city of Columbus for its rapidly expanding population in the late 19th century. At this point in time, the city was hiring various architects (such as Yost & Packard) for their designs, but this building in particular was designed by David Riebel. Riebel was hired as the school district’s architect shortly afterwards.

1908 photo of the school’s exterior…loving the massive cupolas on top. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)

The building was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. I’ve seen conflicting dates for its completion--sources such as the Sanborn map and Architecture: Columbus claim an 1891 date of completion, while others assert 1893 instead. Riebel used a common floor plan that he employed across various other schools that he designed, though he modified the architectural details on each building. Here, the school had three large entry portals on the south facade (since enclosed) and two large ornamental cupolas on top of the roof. Riebel’s other school built at this time was Medary Avenue Elementary in Old North, which has an identical design and curiously has received similar alterations.

Avondale Elementary opened with 295 students. Its population quickly doubled, with 16 teachers and 587 students in 1916. The school briefly became Avondale Junior High between 1917 and 1923, and it has remained an elementary school since.

1950 photo of the exterior. The cupolas have been removed, but the original entrances are still intact. (All Columbus Data)

Avondale Elementary was renovated in 1953 and 1968. Given that era’s distaste for Victorian architecture, it is highly likely that the entrances were walled off at that time. (The cupolas had already been removed before 1950.) The school received a one-story brick addition in the rear, which was probably built in 1968, and it was demolished in 2007.

According to Google Maps snapshots, it appears that the school was restored between 2007 and 2009. The infilled arches had their windows replaced with period-correct designs, and some of the details were painted. Additionally, the circa 1968 addition was demolished and replaced with a larger Postmodern annex (probably a gym). This restoration remains how the building appears today.

Photos

Angled view from the corner of Hawkes and Town:

Well-lit principal facade:

The four large gables and wings versus the slightly recessed area that connects them establishes a rhythm to the facade. Other characteristics that establish the building’s use of the Richardsonian Romanesque style are its brick and stone materiality, vaulted windows and entrances, ornamentation, and its sense of visual weight.

Remember, these three arches used to be entrances, but have since been walled off for classroom use:

The two outer arches are aligned on-center with the two gables here:

The two gables above:

The second floor has regular rectangular windows with a stone lintel above, but the windows inside the gable are vaulted and have a great sense of depth through several layers of recessed brick. Also of note are the ornamental details on the gable ends and peaks, and the detailed brickwork.

Between the windows are two engraved stones with the school’s name, a common practice for the time:

Rectangular windows and denticulated lintel:

Note the carved stone gable ends, which have a book on one side and a floral pattern on the other:

The finial atop the gable is cool, too.

One of the outer wings:

These have much larger windows. The first floor has a segmentally arched window with a massive, overscaled lintel, and the second floor has a semicircular lunette. It’s unusual how the arch’s border takes up the entire width of the facade here:

The eastern facade has a more regular window pattern. Most are rectangular, aside from the ground floor, which has an identical segmental arch as the outer wings of the south facade.