It is a material testimony of the history of schooling in Kielce.

History

The seven-grade Male School of Economics in Kielce was founded in 1903 on the initiative of the School Guardianship Council, which consisted of famous citizens of Kielce. Originally, the school was located in a rented house. In 1905, it was transformed from a governmental institution into an urban school, which, under law, enabled the introduction of the Polish language as a language of instruction. In the same year, a plot between Bazarowa Street and Szeroka Street (now Śniadeckich Street and Żeromskiego Street) from the Rawa family.

Between 1906 and 1907, its own building was erected in Bazarowa Street according to a design of architect Henryk Julian Gaya from Warsaw, under the supervision of local architect Julian Włodzimierski. The school started to operate on 16 September 1907. The building consisting of a front part and two outbuildings was one of the most modern buildings in the town. It housed, among others, 14 large bright lecture halls, extensive corridors, science labs, and library. In 1914, it was used as barracks and later as a military hospital. In 1918 the institution was transformed into the Male Real School, and in 1919 into the eight-grade State Lower Secondary School, whose patron was mathematician Jan Śniadecki. In 1926, the northern outbuilding underwent upward extension by adding the second floor according to a design by Wacław Borowiecki. In the early 1930s, the school was divided into a four-year lower secondary school and two-year upper secondary school. Before World War 2, part of the school plot in Żeromskiego Street was sold to an individual. During the war, the school building was used as a grain warehouse. In 1945, the lower secondary school resumed its operation, but five years later it was dissolved, and the Second Female Upper Secondary Comprehensive School was moved to the building. The Second Jan Śniadecki Upper Secondary Comprehensive School was established in 1958 and has been operating in the building to this day. The building underwent complete renovation in 1972. In 1984-1985, it was extended by an additional wing. In 1996, the façade detail underwent maintenance and conservation and windows were replaced. In the early 21st century, a gymnasium was built in the back of the property.

Description

The building is located in the city centre, on the eastern frontage of Śniadeckich Street, set slightly further back from the building line and enclosed with a masonry and cast iron fence. It is made of brick, has three storeys and a basement; it was built on a floor plan resembling the shape of the letter “U”, with two outbuildings in the backyard. The front building is covered with a multi-hipped roof. The multi-axial asymmetrical façade with Gothic Revival decorations was covered with yellow clinker bricks and combined with a detail made of cement. It was divided into four parts by introducing two shallow avant-corps. In front of the northern avant-corps located in the centre, there is a two-arcade entrance porch, while the southern avant-corps is surmounted by a broken triangular gable. The face of that gable features the bust of the school patron in a round niche. The Gothic Revival features of the décor are evident in the traceried surrounds of the rectangular windows and pinnacles supported by corbels that decorate the cornice crowning the building. The façades facing the inner courtyard do not represent any specific style and their decorations are limited to segmental window pediments. The interiors feature a two- and two-and-a-half-bay layout with a hallway fitted with a staircase on the axis of the main body. The interior of the main staircase is characterised by the preserved original cast iron stairs leading to the upper storeys.

The monument is open to visitors. The structure is open to the public from the outside; the interior is open during the working hours of the school.

compiled by Anna Adamczyk, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Kielce, 15-12-2014.

Bibliography

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