St. Andrews School to Drews Hall - A Legacy Restored

PANAMA CITY / ST ANDREWS, FL - The former St. Andrews School has been renamed “Drews Hall” to honor the building’s legacy while providing it with a distinctive new identity during and after renovation that was needed after Hurricane Michael hit in 2018.  The building’s transformation follows historic preservation guidelines to maintain its architectural integrity.  The name “Drews Hall” was chosen to pay homage to the deep roots of the St. Andrews (“Drews”) neighborhood while embracing the building’s future as a center (“Hall”) for arts and culture.

Nancy Hudson, board member for the Historic Andrews Waterfront Partnership stated, “St. Andrew School has been an integral part of that effort (to restore St. Andrews) and a source of pride for all. The school is on the National Register of Historic Places and in 2007 and the Partnership initiated the acquisition of a historic marker for the school. In its prominent location at the entrance to the area, the school is a beautiful structure of Mediterranean architecture, rare for its 1926 era in a small fishing village with limited funds, but an example of the importance the citizens placed on education and the community’s civic institutions.

St. Andrew School was built in 1926, in the Renaissance Revival style, and is unusual in that it has a horizontal emphasis. The decorative brickwork, rusticated courses at ground level, large arched windows, barrel tile roof, blind arches, and cast stone ovals over the entrances are defining characteristics.

The school is a part of the earliest settled area of the city, the town of St. Andrews, which was annexed by the City of Panama City in 1926. The building includes many decorative courses of brick work. The front elevation features five arched windows. Above each entry arch is a cast stone shield with the "1926" date of construction. One of the supporting corners of the eastern portico contains a cast stone plaque with the names of the trustees, architect and builder. The broad side of the barrel tiled hip roof is visible. At the peak of each portico, the roof steps down forming the hip ends of the two wings. The auditorium's original wooden, folding seats and flooring are present. Considered a major technological innovation in 1926, the auditorium contains a movie projection room. This brick school was built after the two earlier, wooden school houses burned in 1906 and 1926.”

Jennifer Vigil, President & CEO of Destination: Panama City added, “For Drews Hall, efforts are underway to restore this historic school into a vibrant community space once again. Even though it’s going through a transformation, the community fully supports its restoration, and we’re confident it will continue to be a point of pride for Panama City just as it always has been. This project is a nod to the rich history and an investment in its future.”

Don’t fret, historians.  The name “St. Andrews School” lives on.  The former Oakland Terrace School is now the “St. Andrews School.”