By Becky Brewster
Scott Reid, architect with Parkhill, Smith and Cooper, provided the CCAISD Trustees with the results of several months of planning, meetings and site visits to give them their first look at the preliminary schematic design concepts for the new K-12 campus.
Reid outlined the process used to arrive at this point with the starting point being tours of “21st Century Learning Centers” in Midland and Odessa in June. A committee of various school staff members participated in the tours followed by a programming meeting in July and design charrettes in August. From these meetings, the proposed site plan was developed.
Reid noted that the primary focus was on security of the campus with the development of a secure perimeter and providing access control to the facility. One of the biggest changes from the initial site plans is the relocation of the tennis courts to the west side of the existing campus to allow more flexibility in the design of the new facility on the limited area available. The facility will be a two-story structure with an elementary wing, a high school wing and a CATE/middle school wing surrounding a commons area which will serve as the cafeteria dining space accommodating up to 280 seats. The campus administrative offices will connect the commons to the locker rooms/gyms, and the library will be located above the administrative offices. In keeping with the theme of security, the administrative offices will be the gateway to the rest of the campus. Visitors will have to report to the office and will be buzzed in to the educational wings. Each area will have its own set of doors that can be locked down as needed providing an additional layer of security.
The key to the design is flexibility. Each wing has a large central learning area surrounded by individual classrooms. However, as part of the “21st Century Learning Center” environment, most of the walls can be folded back to create a variety of classroom options. The plan is to create a campus that will be able to accommodate future changes in educational requirements and serve the district another 50-60 years.
The new gym is designed to seat 300 on the home side and 200 on the visitor side with a 50’ x 84’ basketball court which can be converted into two volleyball courts. The facility will be equipped with folding bleachers. Renovations are also planned for the existing gym.
A portion of the old high school campus from the library east will be converted into the CCAISD administrative offices. This area will house many functional areas including the Superintendent’s office, the business office, Piems, OT/PT rooms, Speech therapy, the Board room and the district technology and online learning labs.
Reid then presented the Board with two options for the perspective of the front entry: one symbolizing the eagle and one incorporating more of the desert mountain theme. The Board liked aspects of each option and created a third mixed option that will be used in the next phase of the design.
Reid also noted that they are in the process of soliciting for a firm to serve as the Construction Manager for the project and will be hosting a second pre-proposal conference for prospective CMs. Proposals will then be solicited from qualified vendors, followed by a video bid opening, completion of the bid tabulation, and a committee ranking. At that time, the proposals and rankings will be submitted to the school board for final approval. Reid noted that the target bid date for construction is March 2017.
To conclude the meeting, the Trustees approved the negotiated Owner-Architect Agreement with Parkhill, Smith and Cooper at a fee of 7.75% of final construction costs. This fee is estimated to be in the neighborhood of $2 million.
