Charter school may finally get a new home

Plans for Coral Springs facility have been opposed for years

For years, Coral Springs has talked about razing its popular city-run charter school and building new somewhere else.

This week, the city unveiled the latest plan with a public solicitation for an architectural designing and engineering firm to put it all together.

The plan calls for the Coral Springs Charter School to be moved out of its current space along University Drive, next to a regional library, and relocated to two spots along Coral Springs Drive.

The high school would be relocated to the Coral Springs Center for the Arts building, at 2855 Coral Springs Drive. Classrooms would be constructed, and the outside building would be “used but reconstructed,” according to city spokeswoman Lynne Martzall.

For now, the high school and Coral Springs Center for the Arts would sit side by side and attached, possibly by an atrium, according to a city spokesman. In the long term, the center could be relocated to the future downtown as “part of the entertainment district,” Martzall said.

Within a block, the middle school would be built from scratch on the grassy area between the police department, 2801 Coral Springs Drive, and the Coral Springs Gymnasium, 2501 Coral Springs Drive.

The design for the middle school includes office space for Fort Lauderdalebased Charter School USA to move its corporate headquarters, Martzall said. The size of the middle school hasn’t been determined yet.

The City Commission has talked for years about moving the charter school out of its busiest intersection at Sample Road and University Drive. Commissioners complained the school was in the way of

developers who might want to invest in their vision of a downtown with shops and apartments.

The school also wanted a change, saying it needed enough space to boost its capacity from 1,645 students to 2,100. There has traditionally been a waiting list of students for the popular school, which serves grades 6-12. There are 600 to 800 children on the waiting list, said City Manager Michael Goodrum.

The school is a “jewel in our city and one of the reasons people want to live in our city,” he said. Although Coral Springs residents get priority seating, “each year we’re rejecting kids. That’s one of the reasons we’re doing this, [so] our families can get their kids into the school they want to get into.”

But although there have been many plans to relocate the school, it has always been met with community opposition.

A previous plan to move it to a parking lot at Mullins Park or the parking garage of the art museum were dropped. Neighbors were also furious when the city discussed moving it to Betti Stradling Park. Hundreds of people protested the proposal, and the city backed down.

The site wasn’t always a school. The spot began as the Coral Springs Mall, which opened in 1979, to be later overshadowed by the nearby, larger Coral Square mall. Through the years, the aging mall became nearly vacant.

In 1999, the City Commission paid $7 million for the mall through eminent domain, which allows a government entity to force the sale of property for public use. The mall’s three main tenants at the time — Eckerd, Ross Dress for Less and Uptons — were forced to relocate.

The charter school opened later that year.

Goodrum said the plans are not signed off on yet. Traffic studies need to be done, and the City Commission needs to approve it.

A pricetag hasn’t been determined either, although the city would likely foot the bill based on revenues it receives from the state for the school.