Plans for a new elementary school near 42nd and V Streets include a media center built on a cantilever, sweeping views to the southwest, a two-story glass-walled commons area and a drive-through loop for parents to drop off children.
The Omaha Public Schools board accepted plans for the project on Wednesday. The proposal for the $19.9 million project includes seeking LEED silver certification through the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED silver certification goes to buildings that meet a sustainable construction standard.
The elementary school will be in the north part of a tract of land between T and Y Streets that extends west from 42nd Street to a set of railroad tracks. The district plans to pay for the elementary school with construction bonds authorized by the federal stimulus program. The school is being built to ease overcrowding at three nearby schools.
Plans call for construction to begin in October with the building to be largely completed by February 2012, said Rebecca Harding of RDG Planning and Design, the firm that is designing the school.
First would come street improvements on 42nd Street. The City of Omaha plans to begin sewer separation work along the route this summer. The plans include adding a lane to the two-lane street, along with turn lanes and multiple crosswalks, to ease traffic concerns in the neighborhood and make crossings safer for children coming from the east.
The school site would include a one-way loop for parents to drop off children, a 124-stall parking lot and a separate bus drop-off area.
The 104,000-square-foot building will be laid out in an “L” and situated on a lot that slopes down to the west and south. A single-story wing would be devoted largely to kindergarten and early learning classrooms. Classrooms for first through sixth grades would be in a two-story wing.The building is being designed with the idea that sixth-graders may one day move down the hill to a middle school.
A gym, cafeteria and central kitchen would be built off the two-story wing. A central kitchen would be used to cook meals for other schools.
The media room would serve as a focal point for the building, Harding said, “creating a really amazing space for kids to be in.” The building also includes a community room near the main entrance.
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444-1223, julie.anderson@owh.com
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