McDonogh’s original boiler room was built in two phases (1937 and 1964) to heat the older buildings on campus. The adjacent smokestack, at 115 feet, was higher than the roofline of Allan Building so that the fumes wouldn’t blow into the dormer windows. Allan Building’s complex heating and ventilation system included fireplaces, wall grates, transom windows, and steam pipes. Together, they allowed air to circulate through the building, keeping it cool in an age without air conditioning.
Students weren’t the only ones who relied on the chimneys and the smokestack for heat. In the winter, turkey vultures often huddled on the tops for warmth. A small door at the base of the smokestack was inscribed with the reminder to “remove all dust once a week.” Occasionally, during the smokestack cleaning, a bird that had been warming itself on the top would be found inside at the bottom.
On September 18, 2019, an explosion occurred in the school’s boiler room while work was being performed by an outside contractor. The explosion caused the partial collapse of the smokestack. The smokestack remnants were removed later in the year.
