And finally, completely wiped it out when the century turned.
Somebody back then in the early 1950s got the bright idea to want to “harmonize” all of the school plants to make them look as much alike as possible. And so Burbank High soon needed to be made to have the same architectural style as the brand new John Muir and Jefferson up the street…
That meant louvers and lots of right-angles and cement walls.
Photograph caption dated October 17, 1950 reads, “Burbank High School, dignified and commodious unit of the public school system of Burbank and goal of the more than 14,000 enrollees. Its graduates are hailed as coming from one of the finest public education plants in the West, where good teaching and parent understanding are the rule.”
We used to ask the old timers if anyone had ever spoken out against all of this dumb remodeling when it first occurred. They said, “No, not at the time,” but then later on everyone would say something like, “Gee those old schools sure looked great, didn’t they!”
Burbank, California 