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Panel: JM site best for new high school

Fredericksburg's new high school should be built on James Monroe High School property, panel says

By CATHY JETT

Date published: 6/3/2003

City advisers narrow choices to two

Fredericksburg's next high school probably will be built next door to its current one.

The city's School Site Search/Selection Committee has narrowed its list of possibilities to two locations, including the James Monroe tract.

"We consider that property our first choice," committee member Kerry John told her fellow School Board members last night.

The group, which includes Board Chairman Barbara Miller-Richards and two city councilmen, also is considering the 27-acre tract that Ryland Homes is proffering in its tentatively approved Village of Idlewild project.

Members are waiting on preliminary architectural and engineering reports about the sites from SHW Group, the architectural firm that designed Maury stadium's field house. They will probably be ready later this week, John said.

She expects the committee will have a recommendation for the School Board at its July meeting. The board needs to pick sites soon, so money for both projects can be included in the City Council's five-year capital-improvement plan, which is expected to be approved this summer.

John said the committee favors the downtown site for the high school, because it is highly visible and convenient for students who want to walk to class.

If the new high school is built there, it possibly would go where the parking lot and baseball diamond are now, said Superintendent Dale Sander.

"That's all speculation until we get the engineer's report," he said.

The site is only 22 acres, which is on the small side for a high school. But the board might be able to save space by building a three-story facility, Sander said yesterday afternoon.

John said the site-selection committee also narrowed the list of possible sites for the upper elementary school to the Walker-Grant Middle School and Hugh Mercer Elementary School tracts.

Walker-Grant is the top choice, pending the reports.

Sander said he plans to meet with Mayor Bill Beck and city officials next week to "nail down" a construction timeframe, which should calm fears that the high school might be left out of the city's next five-year, capital-improvement plan.

"We need a new high school," Sander said. "If we pick up 300 new kids in the next few years, where are we going to put them? We're already adding three trailers to the high school."

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Date published: 6/3/2003