ORD-2015-004 (approved as ORD-2015-012) Ordinance Designating the Property Known As The White Cross School In Orange County, North Carolina As A Local Historic Landmark

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road; however, these features are not attached to the building itself and could be removed in the future. M The school, standing on a 2.69 -acre parcel, retains its rural context. The eastern portion of the original 7.98 -acre parcel is now occupied by a modern steel utility building housing a stone fabricating shop, located near the road and separated from the school by the gravel driveway (named Everett Lane) that they share. Behind the school to the north, seven small houses were constructed in the late 1960s on the former playing fields and wooded area behind the school and also share the gravel drive, though none are visible from the street. The three southwestern -most houses remain on the same parcel as the White Cross School, but are not included in this designation. The parcels containing the other four houses have been split off from the original 7.98 -acre parcel. Land on the adjacent parcel to the west of the school is wooded. The one -story school is symmetrical and H- shaped in plan with a central, side - gabled auditorium flanked by two, slightly lower, front - gabled classroom wings on each end. The building has a brick veneer laid in Flemish garden wall bond, with soldier- course brick watertable, header - course windowsills, and soldier- course lintels. It has an interior brick chimney and an asphalt - shingled roof with shallow eaves, wood soffits and fascia, and shallow gable returns. The school retains original nine - over -nine wood -sash windows throughout, paired in the front gables and in groups of six on the side elevations of each classroom. The auditorium features groups of three six - over -six wood -sash windows on the fagade, flanking the entrance, with groups of four nine - over -nine wood -sash windows on the rear elevation. Storage and bathroom spaces at the rear of each classroom wing have six - over -four wood -sash windows. There are rectangular louvered vents in the front gables and triangular gable vents on the auditorium wing. The classroom wings project beyond the fagade of the auditorium by 19' with an engaged shed - roofed porch extending the full width of the auditorium between the two wings. The porch has a low front -gable centered on the fagade, though now largely obscured by the crape myrtle trees. It is 6'9" deep and is supported by square columns with a low railing with square pickets. It has a concrete floor, beaded -board ceiling, and is accessed by a central stair as well as stairs on each end of the porch, adjacent to the classroom wings. Paired five - panel doors with a six -light transom are centered on the auditorium. A five -panel door with four -light transom on each end of the porch opens directly to the front classroom of each wing. At the rear of the building, the classroom wings project 28'1" beyond the auditorium, owing to a 10'10" storage and bathroom space at the rear (north) of each classroom wing. Engaged shed - roofed porches extend, not along the central auditorium, but rather along the projecting, classroom wings. The full depth porches are supported by square columns and have railings matching those on the fagade porch as well as concrete floors and beaded -board ceilings. An accessible ramp has been constructed parallel with the porch on the east wing, while the west porch retains its original center stair. Each porch contains an entrance to the auditorium space as well as to the rear classroom space, each door being a five -panel door with four - light transom. A 1948 cafeteria addition to the rear of the west classroom wing projects slightly beyond the west elevation, but is flush with the east elevation of that wing. It is 54'2" deep and contains two rooms. Exterior finishes, including brick veneer and header - course windowsills match the original building, though the addition does not have a soldier- course watertable or lintels. Single windows on the front room are eight- over - twelve wood -sash windows, while those on the rear room are six - over -nine wood -sash windows. The addition is not connected to the classroom wing, nor to each other, internally, but rather there are three five -panel doors to the exterior. The front room has an exterior door on both the east and west elevations, while the rear room has an exterior door in the gable -end, north elevation. Each door is sheltered 2