Recap: 2024 South High School Tours

About the tour: From a distance, South High is an inviting an impressive structure. A closer look reveals its intricate and often fanciful design. Attendees learned about the exterior of the building before venturing inside to see its 5 floors of classrooms, clocktower, and alumni museum.

About the building: Located just southeast of Washington Park, Denver South High School was built in 1925 in the Italian Renaissance Revival style and is considered to be one of Denver’s best examples of the architecture of the City Beautiful Movement. It was designed by the architecture firm of William E. Fisher and Arthur A. Fisher, and contains murals by renowned muralist Allen Tupper True. Two 1963 additions were designed by architect Charles Gordon Lee, who studied with Frank Lloyd Wright. Also of particular interest are elaborate exterior friezes and interior decorative details by the noted sculptor, Robert Garrison.

About the tour guides: Kathleen Corbett, PH.D., the architectural historian who authored South’s nomination for the National Register of Historic Places. Kathy has served on Denver’s Landmark Preservation Commission and the Colorado Historic Preservation Review Board and has owned and operated Corbett AHS, Inc. since 2016.

Ken Dobrovolny, President of the South Alumni Association and a 1965 graduate of South, is a retired Master Trainer with the State of Colorado and a veteran.