Evanston Township High School is one of, if not the largest, high schools under one roof in the nation. The sprawling hallways and endless rooms can be overwhelming for new students, and even upperclassmen who have been around for a while. In fact, the building is so big, that there is a whole floor- the fourth floor- that most high schoolers and staff have never stepped foot on.
In true E-Town Explores spirit, The Evanstonian team investigated the mysterious area for themselves to dispel or prove some common rumors. ETHS Operations employee Renato Ponce kindly led them on a tour of the fourth floor, located above the East and North wings.
“Isn’t it old classrooms?” said Sophomore Sara Steinberg when asked what she knew of the fourth floor.
As the Evanstonian team found out, there are indeed. Before the fourth floor was permanently shut down, PE teachers used the space for driver’s and wellness education classes, including wellness teacher Montell Wilburn, who was the last to teach up there many years ago.
“I truly enjoyed teaching up there because it was like a school outside of a school,” Mr. Wilburn said.
Among piles of rusty chairs, a popular rumor proved true. In some of the first rooms explored, the very dated driver’s ed classrooms on the floor harbored old driving simulators.
“They’re from the sixties and some of them might even be from the fifties, so it’s very antiquated equipment,” remarked Ponce.
Although they are old and unusable now, as are the rooms themselves, it was a fascinating look into the past of ETHS.
The narrow floor of vacant, partially abandoned rooms seemed to be used for just about anything. One room had an entire filming set up with cameras, lighting and a green screen. The group also stumbled upon a classroom consisting of some golf clubs, balls and a hitting net. After voicing curiosity regarding the surprising location for a golf simulator, Mr. Ponce explained:
“[Jed] Curtis, the golf coach, he had that one [points to the hitting net] and he had this digital golf simulator with a projector that hooked up to a computer. He had a whole thing here that nobody knew about.”
Another surprising revelation appeared on the first door to our right as we entered the ominous fourth-floor hallway.. The space, a brightly-lit and mirrored closet-room, is dedicated to keeping the clothes for the ETHS Community Service Club’s thrift shop organized and clean until it comes time for them to move to the much-loved one-dollar thrift store in The Hub. Service volunteers often come to the space to sort donations, clean out the closet and even pull themed clothes for holidays or school events.
About a decade ago, a room that was used by the Wellness staff was renovated into a yoga and meditation studio for their wellbeing. The studio eventually had to be discontinued because of issues with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance, as there was not a way for people with disabilities to get to the fourth floor, which as a whole, is the reason the floor is vacant altogether. ETHS does not have an elevator going up to the fourth floor, and without an elevator, usage of the area is illegal.
Contrary to popular belief, the fourth floor is actually not the very top of the building. From the fourth floor, one can go up another flight of stairs and access the towers of ETHS. The towers are now an unused space, but many decades ago, the old superintendent lived inside of them in a small apartment.
The main purpose of the floor today is to serve as extra space for AP testing. With its obscure legacy and numerous rumored functions, the fourth floor is still shrouded in mystery. While the Evanstonian team was lucky enough to wander the dusty linoleum that harbored those secrets, there are always more questions about what else there is lurking within the walls of ETHS.
