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By HEATHER LAKE
Valley Press Staff Writer
LANCASTER – Plans for a new elementary school in Lancaster are moving right along and everyone is excited.
Groundbreaking is expected to take place next fall on the newly named Columbia Elementary School in the Eastside Union School District.
The school was named after the space shuttle, which disintegrated while re-entering the earth's atmosphere on Feb. 1, 2003.
Progress on plans for the $11 million school, to be on 13 acres at Avenue J-4 and 27th Street East, met with board of trustee approval at Tuesday night's board meeting.
The front of the school will face Avenue J-4.
Multiple facets of the design submission and the environmental approval process are now under way.
Flewelling & Moody, the architect, is awaiting final approval by environmental consultants before putting the finishing touches on their own plans, said Scott Gaudineer, firm president.
"Some things are beyond our control," he said of the project that is behind schedule with district officials anxious to get under way.
"We are behind a year, so we are going to have to do some real planning this spring to make sure we are going to be able to house our kids," said Superintendent Colleen Larson, who is retiring in July.
The board opted to reuse a school design made by a company for a school outside the Antelope Valley, saving them both time and money, Gaudineer said.
Choosing to modify an existing plan saved the district $1 million in architectural design fees and 5% or 6% in construction costs, Gaudineer estimated.
Construction of the 50,000-square-foot school is targeted to begin in January 2005, according to a timetable provided to the board and district officials. The campus is expected to be completed in December.
A preliminary rendering of the school's exterior design depicts a two-story classroom building, as well as one-level structures to house a library, office and multi-purpose room. The plan incorporates the use of some re-locatable classrooms, already owned by the district, that will be permanently placed on the property.
Although the district is now in possession of the tentative design sketches, completed drawings are expected to be available to the public in the fall.
Courtyards, a play yard, a parent drop-off area and a bus drop-off area, which could be converted to additional parking space, are all part of the plans designed with security and aesthetics in mind. The school is intended to be a walk-in school with the capacity for 750 students.
"Traffic and safety has been one of the foremost issues as we go through this planning process," Gaudineer said.
Ann Harris, board vice president, inquired about the possibility of solar panels for the school.
Gaudineer said that at this point they are probably too costly for the district, but that a factor for consideration would be what kind of rebate incentives energy providers are offering customers to install solar equipment.
"Who knows what the next year might bring," Gaudineer said.
Traffic congestion at Eastside schools and other Valley schools has become an increasingly difficult challenge as the population arises.
Flewelling & Moody specializes in school design and is responsible for about 20 schools in the Valley since the 1950s. Already under construction is the new Jack Northrop Elementary School in Lancaster and Esperanza Elementary in Palmdale. Two more schools by their design in Lancaster are cheduled to get under way late this year or early 2005.
The firm also designed the award-winning Armagosa Creek school in Lancaster among many others around the Valley.
It is designed with all the "bells and whistles, and with room to grow," Gaudineer said, adding that developers are watching the progress along with that of the planned Eastside High School on Avenue J-8 and 35th Street East.