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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPOUDRE SCHOOL DISTRICT, CENTENIAL HIGH SCHOOL EXPANSION & REMODEL - SITE PLAN ADVISORY REVIEW - 39-02 - REPORTS - CORRESPONDENCE-NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGr NEIGHBORHOOD INF�IL'Mtca Did SYou accci,a �l°` 'r::or;. dd ;cs; YiotM this mcctla;? of j Lio Yes I No Ye- Sa i I I NEIGHBORHOOD I�+FOPL`�IATIO 1IEETI G V«t¢Qallot ic_:ior ��NTL�NN/A'L �'j S � �°AN S'/ I/✓ - A/�c �t .?�� ,7 Z u; c.�.is Name A_CC. ,_S Liz Yes I No I add ,1. Yesl a �OA le L 6Osa4 I I I ✓I I ll F I I I I �•.w,,��ww��� 1 p• ` QIJ )�5 o d% J �C/ I V IJ�h� i�ee� iP3ly Pete���� 51 I I I ' M G12 p K 12J % /I/V/Lr�•ii�f%L� �1I2�tr1LDiuIM•ii A. Yes, we will be converting the existing administrative space back into traditional classrooms. We need to do some work with the windows and other weather- proofing. The budget for this portion of the work is about one million dollars. 30. Would you use the identical brick on the new buildings? A. No, the Landmark Preservation Commission recommends that we not replicate the brick in order to respect the original structure. We will use a brick that is close but you will be able to ascertain the differences between the new and historic structures. 31. Can we bring back the original "Laurel School" name? A. This may be controversial but it's a good idea. 32. I'm concerned about our neighborhood becoming a dumping ground for half -way houses. A. Response from City: There is a minimum separation requirement for both large and small group homes based on the particular zone district. 33. For 16 parking spaces, I'd rather have a green space. 34. Can you provide a bridge from the elevator module over to the new building to the west? A. No, the City Utilities will not allow a structure over their sanitary sewer easement. 35. Even if it's a second story bridge? A. That is correct. 36. What is the existing square footage now and what will it be after the demolition of the gym, removal of the modulars, and construction of the new additions? A. The existing square footage is 24,700. After the demolitions and new construction, the total square footage will be 40,000. 37. The program appears to be very successful. Will there be another round of expansion in the future? How big a school could Centennial become? A. We are committed to remaining small. At no time would we want to exceed 300 students. In this area of education, all the research points to the value of small high schools. In fact, the William Gates Foundation is funding small high schools which would be capped at 300 students. M 22. I'm concerned about litter in the neighborhood. Could the students do more to police the area? A. Yes, of course. We are committed to maintaining a positive relationship with the neighborhood. Please contact us should the need arise over littering, noise, off - campus smoking or any other aspect of our program. If we do not hear from you, we cannot respond. 23. Is Laurel Street still planned to extend east to Lemay Avenue. A. Response from City: Yes, in the long term. Laurel would make two 90-degree turns to connect to the current dead-end of Pennock Place which leads to an existing traffic signal with Lemay. 24. What is the budget for the project? A. We have $5 million dollars allocated from the current bond issue. 25. Are there any federal funds involved? If so, then the District must obtain approval from the Colorado Historical Society. A. There are no federal funds. 26. Will the City require any mitigation for the loss of the park space? A. Response from City: No, since the green space is not a City -owned park, there is no mitigation required. 27. Can you elaborate on what you mean by "after-hours" activities? A. The students from Front Range in the trades program will mostly be working out on the job site. Upon occasion, however, these students will be on campus. By "after-hours," we mean 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. 28. What is the schedule? A. We will be going through the City review process this Spring and early Summer. We would like to go out to bid in late summer. The first thing we would do is remove the modulars. In the Fall, we hope to start construction and be complete by Fall of 2003. 29. Will you be changing the interior of the historic structure? 5 A. Yes, the height is two story but as you can see from the massing model, the new elevator structure will be a much smaller module and not compete with the historic structure. 16. Will the original entrance of the historic school still be functional? It always concerns me when historic entrances become unrecognizable. A. Yes, the historic entrance will remain functional to be used by students and staff. There will be a new administrative entrance near the elevator module for visitors, parents and those needing access assistance. 17. Is there any way the new structures could be two-story? This would allow more green space or parking. A. We are concerned about shading the properties to our north. Some of the internal space will be one-story but with 15-foot ceilings for the art studio, for example. 18. I'd like to pursue the idea of adding a second story to the new building to the west. Perhaps the art studio portion could feature the 15-foot ceiling but the rest of the building could feature a second story. A. This is a good comment and we will look into this. 19. The whole project looks pretty ambitious. It appears as if the District is programming too much activity for the campus. A. Since the inception of the program, the District has looked at various facility options. We have looked at moving into the old Montgomery Wards on South College, the Timberline Church on South Lemay and some space in the Link Lane area. All options had a variety of drawbacks or financial challenges. We kept coming back to this campus as the best site for the program. We feel the school and the neighborhood have co -existed for almost 100 years and will continue to do so. As administrators, we are committed to maintaining a good relationship with the neighbors. 20. The more you grow, the more the parking is spread out over the neighborhood. Can the students do more carpooling? A. We know parking is an issue. Keep in mind only 75 out of 200 students drive. Approximately one of two students carpool presently. We think there is adequate parking on the public streets and are hesitant to provide additional hard surface on campus for parking stalls. 21. I agree that additional on -campus parking would not be the best use of space. Parking should be handled at the program level between the administration and the students. Building more parking stalls is not the answer. 4 9. How about using grass pavers as a parking lot surface? This would help with storm water quality. A. In our climate, grass pavers reflect heat causing a difficult growing condition for grass. In addition, if used on a daily basis, these pavers tend to not allow grass to thrive. This surface usually works best if not used on a frequent basis. 10. The plans indicate there is an "Outdoor Production" area around the trades building. What is meant by this? A. This is just an area designated for taking deliveries for the kitchen and staging some of the larger projects that might not fit into the building. This area will only be used periodically. This is not to be used as an outdoor shop with power tools and machinery. There may be some temporary storage of materials. 11. I live near that area and do not want to hear table saws being used outside. A. There will be no outside table saws. All the power equipment will be indoors. 12. I'm concerned about the loss of green space in the middle of the project. This is a nice park -like setting in our neighborhood that we have come to enjoy over the years. A. We understand that the school campus provides this amenity. Keep in mind, however, that this green space is not really a City public park but owned by the Poudre School District. We are considering converting the present gymnasium to green space and need your input on that. But the internal area needs to be a building to house the programs. 13. At one time, the City granted C.D.B.G. funds to upgrade and maintain this green space. Would that make it a City park? A. According to our research, there was never any City ownership of the parcel. It has always belonged to the Poudre School District. 14. Why the need for an elevator? A. The elevator is for handicap accessibility to all three levels of the historic school. This includes the garden level and the two upper levels. We would rather build a new structure for the elevator and then bridge over to the historic building than try to retrofit an elevator into the existing building. 15. Are you concerned about the height of the elevator vis-a-vis the historic building? Does the elevator compete with the historic structure? 3 now. So student enrollment is expected to slightly increase by approximately 50 — 75 students. But the primary purpose of the expansion is not to significantly increase student enrollment. 2. I'm concerned about parking in the neighborhood. How many off-street parking spaces do you have now and how many will you have after the expansion/remodel project? A. We now have 17 spaces and after the project we may have two or three additional. We are not planning on taking up land area for parking stalls. Now, there is a proposal that the eastern outdoor basketball court could be converted to a parking lot and we would pick up about 16 spaces. Or, this area could become a lawn area to provide a sense of green open space for both the campus and neighborhood. We are looking for feedback on this. 3. About how many students drive to campus every day? A. About 75. 4. Will you be adding any new staff with the expansion that would need off-street parking? A. No, we will not be adding any new staff. 5. It looks like parking will continue to just spill over into the neighborhood. A. We have counted approximately 135 on -street parking spaces within a one block radius of the school. We know there may be some conflicts but it appears there is sufficient on -street parking to handle the demand. 6. Sometimes I come home for lunch and there is no available parking in front of my house on the street. A. We know parking is an issue. 7. I would oppose any proposal for 90-degree parking. Parking around the school should all be diagonal or parallel but not head -in. 8. I would rather see the easterly basketball court become a small park -like setting. The area is too small for a parking lot and adding only 16 spaces is not worth the effort. Just be sure to save all the trees. A. This is good information and will help us make a decision about how to treat this area. There are no plans to remove any trees in this area. 2 NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING MINUTES PROJECT: Centennial High School Expansion and Remodel DATE: April 22, 2002 APPLICANT: Poudre School District, Planning Design & Construction c/o Greg McGaffin Bill Lamperes, Principal, Centennial High School ARCHITECTS: Adele Willson, Slater Paul Architects Jennifer Cordiss, Slater Paul Architects PLANNER: Ted Shepard The meeting began with a description of the project. Centennial High School is owned by the Poudre School District. As proposed, the District's project includes removing the westerly building, addressed as 650 Mathews Street, and removal of the easterly building (gymnasium). Also, the temporary modular classrooms and outside storage containers would be removed as well. The expansion includes two components. First there would be a two-story addition for offices, computer labs and an elevator immediately to the west of the historic building. Second, there would be a new, detached, one-story building located to the west of the aforementioned addition. This second structure would be separated by about 30 feet from the main building and include a gymnasium, science labs, art room and space for vocational trades. Total new construction would be approximately 22,000 square feet. There would also be changes to the parking configuration along the east -west alley. On the east portion of the site, there would either be a grass area or asphalt for parking/basketball. The trades building will house a program in conjunction with Front Range Community College. Unless otherwise noted, all responses are from PSD officials or the architects. QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, COMMENTS 1. With this expansion plan, how much of the new space is for new students versus serving existing students? A. All the new space and the remodeled space being created is to serve existing programs. School enrollment is capped at 245 students and we are below that