William H. Brett Memorial School, 876 Royal Road, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, OH

Significance: The William H. Brett Memorial School, named after the longtime librarian of the Cleveland Public Library, was the first one-story school erected by the Cleveland Board of Education and the first "corridorless" school to be built in the United States. The school was designed by Walter Roy McCornack, architect for the Cleveland Board of Education for 1914 to 1925. For economy, McCornack organized the classrooms around "play courts" that doubled as play rooms and corridors. For safety, every classroom had a direct exit to the school yard. the building's decorative brickwork and air-intake cupolas recalled the architecture of Italy, homeland of the neighborhood's largest ethnic group.
Survey number: HABS OH-2400