My memories and knowledge on the demolished buildings at the Winnetka Campus of New Trier

The 2015-16 school year at New Trier started on August 19, 2015 and ended on May 25, 2016 so they would have ample time for construction and they started tearing down the remaining old buildings afterwards. At that point, the Tech Arts Building had been demolished so I never went inside there, though I did see it in the summer of 2014 when they renovating both campuses to be more accessible to disabled people. 

1931 Tech Arts Building

It was constructed to have manual art and music classes, but the latter later moved to the 1950 Music Building because the music program outgrew the space. Later on, it was home to four art classrooms, four practical art labs, and the campus bookstore. It was shaped like the letter "I". It had no basement. It even had no bathroom, requiring students to walk a long way if they needed to use one. It could result in them missing out on over ten minutes of class. The second floor was inaccessible to disabled people because it was only accessible via a staircase and the center was too narrow which made it impossible to have classrooms around it. It was never renovated whatsoever, resulting in it looking just like it did in 1931 when it was demolished in 2015. It closed the week before spring break so people could say goodbye to it. During spring break, it was closed to students & staff in preparation for when it was demolished in the summer of 2015. Due to the original steam-heat radiators and single-pane windows, it made heating and cooling really difficult, requiring people to wear coats and other clothing to stay warm during cold weather. During the renovations, trailers were used for classrooms and lab space. 

1912 Cafeteria

I remember it at New Trier really well! Like the other buildings which were demolished, the ceilings, roof, and walls were really old and falling apart, and the lightning was dark. I didn't like the bathrooms that were close to the doors because you had to hold the handle on the sink when washing your hands. There were double doors leading to the cafeteria, followed by a ramp and the cafeteria was on your right. It was really painful where if a disabled person went down the ramp such as in a wheelchair and the doors were closed, they could've been badly injured in the process. On the left, there were tables and chairs, along with steps and doors leading to the Gaffney Auditorium along with the McGee Theater and Music Building. On the right, there were doors leading to the cafeteria. Inside the cafeteria with a maximum occupancy of 551 which caused students to eat all over the place, there was a rectangular sized room that had booths, round tables with chairs, relaxing chairs and tables, and an aisle where you could get snacks. There were two entryways with a column between them to the big area. In the big area in it contained several tables and chairs, a lot of flags representing different countries, four food lines which were from left to right; two sandwich lines, a pizza/Mexican line and burger/pasta/fried food line, all of which had entryways containing different types of food with drink fillers that are similar to ones in restaurants, two water and ice fillers, several trash cans, several archs, a table between the two areas with napkins, utensils, and other stuff which tables in between the aisles also had, a stairway by the small area leading to the Gaffney Auditorium which students weren't allowed to use, a fireplace which is now part of the new library, window ceilings, and a stairway on the same side as the fireplace in addition to doors on that side and the further side which led to the Music Building and the McGee Theater both of which connected to it and trapped the cafeteria. The kitchen was small, resulting in daily deliveries because the storage was small. The scrounge area in the basement was cramped. It was an alternative area for students to have lunch. The campus store was there during the 2015-16 school year and late in to the 2014-15 school year if I'm not mistaken. I visited an exhibit there one time and I liked the work the students did. 

1950 Music Building and McGee Theater

The latter had poor bathrooms and the seats were red, the stage had a brown surface with scratches, and it was really cramped. Even worse, the third and fourth floors of the Music Building were inaccessible to disabled people because there were no wheelchair lifts or elevators for them. I remember seeing an exhibit in the second floor art wing where I enjoyed seeing the stuff on display. I even learned about a New Trier alumnus who died just ten days in 1981 after graduating. The original wheelchair lifts were slow, they blocked hallways when used, and were difficult to operate. Many ramps at the time were too steep for wheelchair use. Even worse than that, there was only a single elevator in the school. During the summer of 2014, an ADA project came into play as both campuses became more accessible to disabled people. The most notable examples are the Gates Gym and Gaffney Auditorium. In the case of the former, they built a five-step elevator leading to every level of the building, and the steps leading between the entrance/exit were ridden of. In the case of the latter, a ramp was added to get into the building, in the building itself a ramp was added from the house to the stage, and four accessible bathrooms were added to the south lobby. I remember the old library really well. It was on the third floor and there wasn't a lot of space. I worked there during my sophomore year as I helped liquidate books as I stamped them, I pulled books back, and put ones that were out of place. It had a computer lab which I never went into. It was shaped like an upside down "L". There was a door in an office nearby that led to the hallway. There were several offices, desks and chairs. There wasn't a lot of space. There were several computers facing the windows.