Wheeler and Lewis

Principals:
Selby M. Wheeler
Carol B. Lewis (1919-1978)

The following is sourced from the Colorado Historical Society, Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, Architects of Colorado Biographical Sketch; Wheeler and Lewis, Architects
http://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/Guides/Architects_Wheeler_and_Lewis.pdf

During its three-decade long practice (1950-1981), the Denver architectural firm of Wheeler and Lewis designed over 300 Colorado schools, school additions, and remodeling projects. Their work graces such diverse communities as Buford, Eads, Englewood, Durango, Gunnison, Lamar, Leadville and Walden. Architects Carol B. Lewis and Selby M. Wheeler were modernists and their school buildings reflect contemporary trends in architecture and educational philosophy. Their firm consistently focused on designing schools combining function, economy and beauty to create an ideal environment for learning.

Lewis grew up in Salina, Kansas, graduating from the Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science in Manhattan, Kansas. He competed in New York for the 1940 Paris Prize scholarship in the American Ecole de Beaux Arts national competition. The first Kansas State student to be selected for the prestigious contest, he finished seventh, receiving honorable mention for his design of a parkway police station. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture on May 25, 1942. He served in the Navy during World War II.

Carol Lewis successfully passed the Colorado board examination in January 1950 and was certified to practice architecture in May. A charismatic and personable man, Lewis met Selby Wheeler at a party. The two found common interests and formed a professional partnership in 1950.

Little is known of Wheeler’s early years other than that he came from Kansas, attended Oklahoma State for his undergraduate work in architecture, and then received his master’s degree in Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The firm designed the Aspen Elementary School (now the “Yellow Brick School,”) in 1959.