PaliHi Maps Ambitious Building Plans

Palisades Charter High School is looking ahead, exploring the possibility of constructing a new two-story classroom building, a visual and performing arts center and a student union.   ’In budget times like these, there can be a scarcity mentality,’ PaliHi Executive Director Amy Dresser-Held said. ‘The strength of this school is that we are willing to take a longer view of what we need and want for the future.’   In fact, the school is in the middle of constructing the $4.6-million Maggie Gilbert Aquatic Center, which should be completed this spring.   PaliHi began thinking about upgrading its facilities in the 2005-06 school year. The school sent out a survey to stakeholders, asking them to share their thoughts on the school’s needs and their visions for the future. The information was compiled and the Los Angeles-based architectural design firm Perkins + Will was hired in 2007 for $100,000 to develop a master plan.   The firm spent the next three years visiting the campus to gather information from stakeholders about their goals and to assess the existing facilities.   Perkins + Will recently finished the master plan document, recommending a two-story classroom building, a visual and performing arts center and a student center. School administrators will now ask for feedback from faculty and parents over the next month. Then the document, along with stakeholders’ comments, will be presented to PaliHi’s board at its February 16 meeting.   ’We are considering this a working draft,’ Dresser-Held said, adding that at the end of the process, school leaders hope to have a clear idea of what capital improvement project to pursue first, so they can begin exploring funding options.   The school’s buildings will be 50 years old in 2011, meaning that PaliHi will be eligible for more state modernization funds, which the state allocates to schools to upgrade their buildings. The state requires a local match to receive the funds.   ’The money is on a first-come first-served basis, and the school will only be eligible if it has Division of State Architect (DSA)-approved plans,’ Dresser-Held explained.   For this reason, she said, it will be important for the board and school leaders to act quickly by deciding which project to make a priority, so that PaliHi’s Budget and Finance Committee can set aside money this spring to hire an architectural firm that can develop design plans to submit to DSA.   School leaders will also have to explore ways to raise enough money for a local match. Fundraising consultant Candice Koral was hired in August to oversee the school’s annual giving campaign in hopes of intensifying fundraising efforts to supplement the general fund and to raise money for capital improvements such as these, said Dresser-Held.   Among the improvements highlighted in the master plan document is upgrading the science labs. Located in the G Building, they have not been updated since the building was constructed in 1961.   ’In many instances, not all of the lab stations are fully functioning,’ Dresser-Held said, ‘and there are generally fewer lab stations than there are students, which inhibits instruction.’   One suggestion is to create two state-of-the-art science labs in the G Building for the science teachers to share. Another alternative is to tear down the J Building and remove the classroom bungalows to make room for a two-story, 26,000-sq.-ft. classroom building. This building would house the science department and additional classrooms.   Dresser-Held said that Perkins + Will proposed the new classroom building because the J Building and bungalows are only one story.   ’It would more than double the classroom space,’ Dresser-Held said, adding that the campus with 2,846 students (including those at Temescal Academy) is cramped.   She did not have an estimate of how much it would cost for the two-story building, but said that an engineer believed it would be more cost-effective to build a new building rather than remodel the J Building.   Because PaliHi has such a distinguished arts program and inadequate facilities, Perkins + Will also recommended the construction of a visual and performing arts center (VAPA). At 56,500 sq. ft., the center would include a 550-seat theater with an orchestra pit and dressing rooms as well as classrooms for dance, drama, instrumental music, choral music, film, art, photography and ceramics.   The plan is to construct the building, estimated to cost approximately $20 million, on the faculty parking lot near the A Building, which would involve tearing down B101, a lecture hall with 156 seats.   The faculty lot would lose about 115 spaces, but school leaders are exploring various ideas on how to increase parking on campus and has already re-striped the upper parking lot to gain 80 spaces, Dresser-Held said. The location was chosen because stakeholders indicated during the planning process that they wanted to showcase the new center.   ’Our idea is that it will shadow Bowdoin and branch out from the A Building, so that it will be visible from Temescal Canyon Road,’ Dresser-Held said.   She explained that another benefit to the new center is that ‘all those rooms that are currently being used for art, music and photography can be repurposed.’   In addition, the current 400-seat theater, Mercer Hall, could be torn down to make room for a student center. During the planning process, stakeholders expressed a need for students to have their own space.   ’Mercer Hall seemed like a logical location for the student union, since it’s next to the cafeteria and the quad,’ said Dresser-Held, who could not estimate how much the center would cost, but said an engineer concluded that it would be more cost-effective to construct a new building.   The student union is envisioned to be 24,500 sq. ft. and include the library, college center, career center, computer lab, student government offices, counseling office and food service. There would be a multipurpose room for gathering of student government and clubs.   ’It will be a nice place for the students to congregate,’ said Dresser-Held, adding that she is excited to see how the campus will look years from now.   She looks forward to receiving feedback from stakeholders and further developing these plans in the coming months. ‘We are very much in the infancy.’   To view the master plan, visit PaliHi’s Web site at palihigh.enschool.org and look under bulletins and announcements.