New School to be Incorporated into Inventors Hall of Fame Building in Ohio

AKRON, Ohio — A new $16 million school will be incorporated into the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame Foundation museum for the Akron School District.

The National Inventor’s Hall of Fame School — Center for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Learning is being designed by Hasenstab Architects. About 30,000 square feet of the museum’s space will be renovated for the school, and 50,000 square feet will be added north of the existing facility to accommodate the more than 500 5th-8th grade students.

The museum will retain the “great wall” as a separation point between the museum and school. The wall will also function as a safety barrier to keep students segregated from museum visitors.

The location of the building will allow for curriculum to be integrated with surrounding facilities such as the Akron Art Museum, Summit County Courthouse and Akron Summit County Public Library. The University of Akron is also accessible from the building, and future collaborations between the university and the middle school could include sharing laboratory space and other facilities.

Grade levels will be separated by floor levels, but the western portion of the existing facility will be renovated to contain support activities such as art, music and food service that will be shared by all grade levels. The physical education area will be located below grade and will also be shared.

The building will be six stories, with two stories below grade. The bottom floor will align with the lowest level of the existing facility and the rear access road.

Student drop-off and pick-up locations will be located on the road west of the facility but a public entrance to the building will also be placed on Broadway, the one-way street in front of the facility.

Construction of the school is expected to begin in June and be completed in 2009. Funding for the project came from the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission, which provided $7.3 million, and the district, which provided about $8.8 million.