Major Baltimore City School Project Underway

February 3, 2015 1773 Views Cascadia Subduction Zone, Eastern U.S., Gray Harbor County Public Schools System, International Baccalaureate, Monarch Global Academy Contract School, SEI Architects, Steel Building Specialists Inc., Varco Pruden

BALTIMORE — Ever since the passage of the $1 billion Baltimore City School Construction and Revitalization Act of 2013 (HB 860) in April 2013, plans for new school construction and renovation projects in Baltimore have been well underway. As of September 2014, 11 school buildings were identified as moving toward the design phase, promising new or renovated facilities for almost 8,000 students.

Two schools — Fort Worthington Elementary School and Frederick Elementary School — are currently in design phase, and are scheduled to open for students in the fall of 2017. As the designs are being reviewed, Urban Design and Architecture Review Panel (UDARP) members have made one thing clear: They don’t want to see any more fortresses.

The Baltimore Business Journal reported that these comments were made as the city began reviewing the first two sets of plans that the Maryland Stadium Authority, one of the project partners, will submit for Planning Department approval. UDARP members said that past school buildings featured introverted designs, and instead, they’re hoping for buildings that engage the community and are more transparent.

Fort Worthington Elementary School will undergo a complete demolition and rebuild, with locally based Grimm + Parker Architects designing the facility. Frederick Elementary School will undergo a renovation and addition, with USA Architects of Somerville, N.J. at the helm.

The designs submitted are the first in the design process and were to be used as discussion material only. As such, UDARP members requested that the architects establish a clear vision for the project and be realistic about the budget costs, reported the Baltimore Business Journal.

Eric Johnson, who is managing the $1 billion school construction project for the Maryland Stadium Authority, told the Baltimore Business Journal that the current designs are going before UDARP after his agency awarded contracts to the lead architects in September. Two more contracts were set to be awarded at the end of January, and six more are expected to be awarded by June. Baltimore City Schools said cost estimates suggest that 23 to 28 schools could be renovated or undergo new construction as part of the $1 billion plan.

The plan is the single largest investment ever in the Baltimore school system. For years, the district’s students have attended schools with poor conditions, lacking such basics as drinking water and sufficient wiring capable of supporting computers and air conditioning. Almost 75 percent of the school buildings were built between 1946 and 1985, and 25 percent were built before World War II. Additionally, the district currently uses less than two-thirds of the available space in its 183 buildings across 163 campuses.