File:Lorraine Elementary School No. 72, rear addition, Buffalo, New York - 20230204.jpg

English: The three-story rear addition to Public School No. 72 (aka Lorraine Elementary) in Buffalo, New York - a work of local architects Shelgren, Patterson & Marzec - as seen early in a February 2023 afternoon. With its smooth-textured façade, preponderance of sleek straight lines and right angles, ornamental austerity, and bottom-heavy massing, this is a fine example of the Modernist school of architecture as applied for institutional usage - and the dark earth tone color scheme further exemplifies the circa 1970s iteration of that style. In that era, overcrowding in the public schools was a growing issue in South Buffalo, a product of the fact that this was the section of the city least affected by outmigration to the suburbs and that this was an era of history in which more and more of the children of the midcentury Baby Boom were reaching school age. In the five years before the annex was built, enrollment at School 72 had increased by about a third, and by 1970, the conditions were so dire that the school cafeteria, nursing station, auditorium, and teachers' lounge had all been temporarily repurposed as overflow classroom space. Furthermore, the school had begun operating on what was termed a "split schedule", with half the student body beginning classes early and returning home after lunch and the other reporting to school in late morning but staying until early evening, which further alleviated crowding at the price of raising concerns among parents about the safety implications of young children walking to or from school in the dark. In addition to the annex to School 72, the Buffalo Public Schools' 1972 capital budget also earmarked funds for a top-to-bottom renovation of South Park High School with an aim to increasing building capacity (another project for which Shelgren, Patterson & Marzec served as supervising architects). The addition, which cost $1.8 million and was ready in time for the start of the 1973-74 school year, furnished twelve much-needed additional classrooms.