The first of major school construction projects New Hanover County voters authorized when they passed a $160 million bond issue in 2014 will be ready to bid later this month. But already some New Hanover County Board of Education members are questioning design choices.
They seemed particularly perplexed by an architectural rendering of the entrance and front facade of the $17 million Porters Neck Elementary School, which will be built on Edgewater Club Road. A soaring canopy with posts configured to bring to mind a sail — much like the Wilmington sign at North College Road and Martin Luther King Parkway — was a resounding bust.
Vice Chairman Jeannette Nichols thought it unattractive and too high above the entrance to provide adequate cover.
“In other words, she thinks it’s ugly,” board member Janice Cavenaugh chimed in. Chairman Don Hayes found it confusing.
Also at issue: The architectural firm, LS3P, proposed setting off the brick facade with blue metal panels to add some color.
“It does not impress me at all,” board member Ed Higgins said. “It looks cheap.”
The metal panels have been used in other county school buildings, explained Eddie Anderson, director of facility planning and construction. And, both he and architect Charles Boney pointed out, the color is certainly up for debate.
More complex would be redesigning the canopy, which could add time and increase cost, Anderson said. School officials are even more concerned about the overall cost. During a later agenda item Anderson said this year alone, construction costs have risen about 20 percent. The recession cut demand, but now that construction has come back, prices for labor and materials are increasing rapidly.
Officials have worked with architects to cut costs where possible up front, but the real test will be when the bids come in, Anderson said. School officials said they already had to rebid one bond-funded project, cabling for technology at Hoggard High School, because the first round came in too high.
Board member Lisa Estep, who noticed the sail resemblance in the canopy, said she didn’t have a problem with either the entry or the color. A lower canopy will serve to cover students as they congregate on the sidewalk; the higher canopy is partly to emphasize the location of the entrance.
Boney said because the school is close to water, the design team chose colors and features that give the feel of the ocean. But some redesigning can be done to make the features more appealing to board members, he and Anderson reiterated.
Once the canopy details are refined, construction is expected to begin in October, with completion in early 2017. Parents in the Porters Neck area will have to wait three years, though, before the school will open to their children.
The bond issue also includes rebuilding Blair, Wrightsville Beach and College Park elementary schools. For the first three years, students at Blair will attend the new school while theirs is being rebuilt. Then Wrightsville Beach students will move to Blair for one year while that project is underway.
College Park students will be housed temporarily in the former home of The Rock Church, now owned by the county. The northern bus parking area is also on that site. In the distant future, the district plans to build a middle school on the site to replace Trask Middle, which would become a ninth-grade annex to Laney High School.
Laney and Hoggard high schools are set to undergo major renovations as part of the bond issue. The board approved design contracts for the two projects, which are budgeted at $10.5 million and $16.4 million, respectively.
The work on the two high schools is expected to conclude by late summer 2017.
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