Board looks at Meadow Lane plan
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on November 1, 2016 9:58 AM
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Submitted photo
Picture is the proposed new Meadow Lane Elementary School, presented Monday for the school board by Pinnacle Architecture. It would incorporate a wing for exceptional children, absorbing the existing Edgewood Community Developmental School.
The Board of Education got a glimpse of what the new Meadow Lane Elementary School will look like Monday morning when architects presented a drawing and discussed a timeline for construction, which will include a wing for the new Edgewood Community Developmental School.
Pinnacle Architecture of Matthews was chosen by the board earlier in the month to do the prep work, with information to be turned over to the state Department of Public Instruction.
The proposed plan, coordinated with the county commission, called for a new $21.8 million Meadow Lane school to be built on the existing campus, and to include a wing to house Edgewood.
Randy Baker and Dr. Jim Watson of Pinnacle provided an update while unveiling what the finished project will look like.
"The school is actually all brick veneer, metal roof, an all pitched roof, no flat roofs will be used on this project," Baker said. "The building is approximately 115,000- to 118,000-square feet. It will have an additional EC (exceptional children) wing, approximately, I think we've got eight to 10 EC classrooms.
"One of the unique factors of the school is that it will house a significant number of EC children, special needs children, and that wing, they will have their own entrance."
It will also have a pre-kindergarten and first-grade wing, a wing for grades two and three, and a fourth- and fifth-grade wing, he explained.
"Each classroom is approximately 1,200 square feet and has a restroom inside the classroom," Baker said.
There is also a "group toilet" in the main hallway, he said.
The school also features a teacher workroom on each wing, he said.
"Back 30 or 40 years ago, they had the old idea of a teacher's lounge," he said. "Well, I don't know if they lounged back then, but we're certainly not lounging now."
The project is divided into two phases, Baker said, the Edgewood portion being part of Phase 2.
"We will have to take a portion of the existing school down in order to construct that wing," he explained. "That way you can have the school up and running, and then once (Meadow Lane) is demolished, students will be in this school as the (new) wing is being constructed."
The architects said they planned to meet with staff at Meadow Lane to allow them to weigh in on the layout and plan options.
There is a proposed timeline for the pre-K through grade five elementary school that will accommodate 800-plus students, Baker said.
He said construction documents are expected to be finished in January, and pending board approval, the district could advertise for bids that month, receiving them in February.
"That gives us about six weeks to bid this project," he said.
Construction of the building could begin as early as April, with a targeted completion date of June 2018. The EC classrooms, Phase 2, could start in June 2018. All dates are subject to the weather, Watson said.
Dr. Michael Dunsmore, schools superintendent, said the process of keeping the school open during construction, interwoven with demolition and continued building, led to the two-phase plan.
It will allow for the finished product to still have a similar facade, he said -- facing Ash Street, as it does on the current site.
"And we have a functioning building at Edgewood now so we can leave (students) in their present situation and finish the building," he said.
Board member Pat Burden asked about a walkway on the rendering, and whether it was a covered corridor. Baker said it was, pointing out that the whole school is "under cover" as part of security efforts.
Board member Rick Pridgen had a concern about the distance between the Edgewood wing and the cafeteria, especially since some of the students may have mobility issues.
Dunsmore said that was among the things that can be discussed.
The architect rendering can be subject to change, Watson said, "just lines on a page right now."
Board member Jennifer Strickland expressed appreciation to Pinnacle for incorporating a necessary element in the plans.
"I'm very excited to see the design including restrooms for that pre-K (in the classroom), I'm very excited about the design," she said.