Posted 7:36 pm Saturday, December 06, 2008
TISD Trustees Approve Floor Plans For 3 Schools
By MEGAN MIDDLETON
Staff Writer
Tyler ISD trustees approved plans for three of the new schools that will be built as part of the recently-passed TISD bond election.
Staff Writer
Tyler ISD trustees approved plans for three of the new schools that will be built as part of the recently-passed TISD bond election.
During a special board meeting Friday, trustees OK'd the floor plans and exterior elevations for Clarkston, Orr and Woods elementary schools.
"We're ecstatic about them," TISD Superintendent Dr. Randy Reid said of the designs of these schools. "We believe we're going to give quality facilities for our kids and at the same time provide really good value to the taxpayers of the district."
Orr and Woods will have designs similar to the Douglas and Jack elementary school model, with some slight modifications. Jack and Douglas were among the seven new schools built in the previous bond election approved in 2004.
This photograph below shows a similar design to the one proposed for the new Douglas and Woods Elementary Schools.
But Clarkston Elementary will have a different design than those schools built in the previous bond because of the land on which it sits.
Clarkston will feature a spilt-level type design with the main entrance on the second floor.
"What we've tried to do is come up with a unique design that's two-story in construction but also has some multi-level and stair-stepping to fit this building on to the existing hill," Kent Harris of Eubanks, Harris, Roberts, Craig Architects told trustees Friday.
Harris said that the Clarkston site is difficult because of the hillside and the steepness of the embankments around the perimeter of the property where the roads are.
Harris said that the school would be compliant with American Disabilities Act (ADA) standards, with ramps designed in the floor plan to transition from level to level.
A covered walkway will run through the courtyard of the new building, which will allow for quick access from one side of the school to the other, but is not the only route to the other side.
Under the plan for these three schools, Orr, which currently faces west to Orr Drive, will face north to Pine Haven Road when the new facility is constructed. Woods, which currently faces west to Pollard Drive, will face Fry Avenue to the east. And Clarkston, which currently faces east to Shenandoah Drive, will face northeast to Williamsburg Drive.
Voters approved the $124.9 million TISD bond election on Nov. 4, authorizing the district to replace six campuses: Clarkston, Griffin, Jones, Orr and Woods elementary schools as well as the St. Louis School-Wayne D. Boshears Center for Exceptional Programs, which is a school for students with special needs. The new schools represent phase 2 in a multi-phasic initiative to replace declinging facilities in TISD.
Officials have said the district would like to see as many of these schools open in fall 2010 as possible.
Clarkston, Orr and Woods will be built on land where the current campuses are located.
During his presentation, Harris told trustees that they did fine tune some of the layouts from the Jack/Douglas model to address any problem areas that had surfaced in those schools.
"These are great plans and we sure are excited," Board President Ron Vickery told the architects after the presentation.
Reid has said that board members, at different times, as well as the district's leadership team and the principals of these schools have provided input on the designs.
Approval of the designs allows officials to move forward with preparing to bid out the projects for construction.
Harris said that the tentative target bid date for Orr and Woods elementary schools is Jan. 27, while Clarkston will be shortly thereafter.
Officials said the relocating of portable buildings has already begun on some campuses.
Designs for the other two buildings the district will construct as part of the bond program -- Griffin Elementary and the joint Jones/Boshears school -- may be considered by the board at its regular December board meeting or after the Christmas holidays, Reid has said.
The district is still finalizing plans to purchase land for a new Griffin Elementary. The board recently approved the purchase of land for the new Jones/Boshears campus. It is on State Highway 31 West, near Loop 323, behind the Westwood Shopping Center.
