NBCDFW.com
cary middle
cary middle
cary middle
cary middle
cary middle

Dallas board approves plan to rebuild and renovate tornado-damaged schools

Jan. 24, 2020
Cary Middle was destroyed and Thomas Jefferson High was badly damaged by storms in October.

The Dallas school board has approved nearly $132 million in construction projects for two campuses severely damaged in October by tornadoes,

The Dallas Morning News reports that just over $82 million of that total will go to renovating Thomas Jefferson High School; the remaining $49.8 million will create a new pre-K through 8th grade campus on the site of Cary Middle School, totaled by the storms

Despite requests from Thomas Jefferson alumni to do something more elaborate at the 64-year-old campus, board members decided to  renovate -- and not completely rebuild -- the high school.

[Related: 3 Dallas schools closed indefinitely after tornado]

Earlier this month, district officials pressed trustees to make a quick choice, hoping to reopen the schools by the start of the 2022-23 school year.

District administrators proposed a compromise option last week, attempting to find a middle ground between the $82 million renovation and a completely new high school, which was projected to cost the district $147.3 million.

The initial renovation option aimed to preserve a majority of the existing structures, demolishing and rebuilding 134,000 square feet of the property too heavily damaged to be salvaged: the cafeteria and kitchen, weight room and dance studio, the culinary arts and ROTC areas.

At $124.6 million, the compromise plan would have demolished far more of the aging school, renovating only an 34,000-square foot academic wing on the east side of the high school that was built in 2004.

The majority of board members, however, either expressed their satisfaction with the earlier plan of more extensive renovations, or their dissatisfaction with the administration’s last-minute pivot to a more expensive option.

The board voted 6-3 for the $82.1 million plan.

Sponsored Recommendations

How to design flexible learning spaces that teachers love and use

Unlock the potential of flexible learning spaces with expert guidance from school districts and educational furniture providers. Discover how to seamlessly integrate adaptive ...

Blurring the Lines in Education Design: K–12 to Higher Ed to Corporate America

Discover the seamless integration of educational and corporate design principles, shaping tomorrow's leaders from kindergarten to boardroom. Explore innovative classroom layouts...

Room to Learn: Furniture Solutions for Education

Preparing students for the future. Utilizing our experience in the education market, we offer a dynamic selection of products that pair technology with furniture to help stimulate...

Transforming Education: A Case Study in Progressive Classroom Design

Discover how Workspace Interiors and the Baldwin School District reshaped learning environments in Long Island, New York, creating pedagogically responsive spaces that foster ...