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Creating the Maryville High School of the future is a complicated, expensive task that project planners outlined for community residents Thursday night.
The assembly was a joint meeting between City Council, the school board and the city Public Building Authority. City Council and board members had not seen any of the options before Thursday. Community residents filled the Ruby Tuesday Lecture Hall at Maryville High School.
Knoxville architect Daryl Johnson provided the bare-bones details of five options that his team has developed. The price tags range from $72 million to $109 million.
Within the space of an hour, Johnson explained each option, listed the advantages and disadvantages, and student capacities. Three of the options would further expand into the neighborhood around the school.
Barry Brooke, vice president of Lawler-Wood LLC provided cost estimates for each of the five proposals. Lawler-Wood is the project manager.
Before Johnson and Brooke made their presentations, school board member Mark Cate told the group of community residents that the meeting was not a public forum but a informational session. However, he promised that several meetings would be held in late July to early August to give the public a chance to voice their opinions about the proposals.
“The purpose tonight is to get the options on the table,” Cate said.
The school board has also commissioned a systemwide analysis and the high school situation would factor into that.
By the first part of September, the school board should start moving toward a decision, he said.
“This is a critical juncture for our schools not only for the high school but all our schools,” Cate said.
Johnson labeled the five proposals as Options A-E and told the PBA that they hadn’t even heard about Option E, Option E is something his team came up with during the process of developing the first four options, he said.
* Option A is to build a second high school, dubbed “Greenfield,” for 1,500 students and renovate the current site for a student population of 1,600.
The new school would have 81 classrooms, an auditorium to seat 700, a gym for 3,000, new athletic fields and a 10,000-square-foot, two-story library. The current facility would be renovated.
The conceptual estimated cost is $77,365,900.
* Option B is to build one new high school to accommodate 2,200 students. This school would have 116 classrooms, an 800-seat auditorium, a 4,000-seat gym, new athletic facilities and a 12,000-square-foot, two-story library.
The conceptual estimated cost is $95,349,400.
* Option C is to expand the existing facility to 1,700 students, renovate the existing middle school to 800 students and to build a new middle school.
This option would have the high school situated on two campuses.
The current high school would need 78 additional classrooms to complement the 32 that could be salvaged. It would also have an 800-seat auditorium, 3,000-seat gym, expanded football facilities and a 12,000-square-foot, two-story library.
The oldest part of the high school would be torn down to build onto the remaining facility. Lawrence Avenue would be reconfigured on the S. Cedar Street end, and houses across S. Cedar Street would have to be torn down to provide additional room.
This option has an estimated conceptual cost of $108,885,000.
* Option D would be to expand the existing high school to 2,200 students.
This facility would have 116 classrooms, an 800-seat auditorium, a 4,000-seat gym, expanded football facilities, new parking and a 12,000-square-foot, two-story library. Parts of the school would be three stories. It would also require that property be torn down to make room.
The conceptual estimated cost is $71,532,712.
* Option E is to build a new high school for 2,200 students on an expanded site at the current facility.
This option would mean that the houses and apartments in the blocks in between Lawrence and Mountain View avenues would be torn down to provide room to build a new school. Once the new school is completed the current facility would torn down.
Option E would have the same elements as Option D.
The conceptual estimated cost of Option E would be $77,502,150.
All options are based on a one-to-22 teacher-student ratio. Johnson’s team met with school administrators, department heads and teachers to come up with the proposals. The school needs more lecture halls, increased core capacity, development of teacher work areas.