Historic Photo of the Week: West High Auditorium
Featured, Hennepin-Lake, History — By Thatcher Imboden on February 4, 2013 6:10 amI’m a Southwest High alum but had West still been around (closed in 1982), I would have likely gone there. At one time, West utilized Lake of the Isles and Lake Calhoun for some of its physical education courses and clubs, while Homecoming was celebrated with a parade down Hennepin and businesses decked out in green and white.
West High School also had quite the auditorium that the first year book described as “the pride of the school.” The 1,500 seat auditorium included a balcony and polished white pine woodwork.
A photograph of the stage at West High School in Minneapolis
A close up of the stage reveals that the large American flag was “presented to West Side High by Shady Side Ass’n.” The only reference to Shady Side Association that I have found was at a Minneapolis parks discussion where various organizations from around the Twin Cities discussed the importance of lakes and parks, and Shady Side Association was one to address the crowd.
A close up of the West High School stage and the flag that was presented to them by the Shady Side Association
Thatcher Imboden
How cities work and change, how they are the product of their inhabitants and outside forces, and the resulting livability keep me thinking and dreaming about the future. I work in urban real estate development, am Past President of an Uptown business organization, grew up in Uptown, was on an Uptown neighborhood association Board, and am an Uptown and Lyn-Lake historian.
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1 Comment
This must be in the school’s early years. The auditorium had been remodeled later, probably when the 1916 addition was constructed. It looked nothing like this when I attended West.