As Riverdale comes to life in 3-D drawings, citizens happy
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The expansion at Riverdale Elementary in Germantown has generated its share of furrowed brows. Wednesday, most of the wrinkles were gone or turned into smiles as the first schematic drawings of the inside and out tilted and danced in a 3-D spin across an overhead screen.
No one clapped, but the nods and grins summed up the mood.
“I’m thrilled with everything,” said parent Amy Lipscomb.
Long after the school board had moved onto the next agenda item, she and a knot of other parents clustered around A2H architect Stewart Smith, peppering him with questions about hallways and the number of restrooms for each pod of classes.
The $12 million expansion, which includes a gym with pulldown bleachers for 500, plus classrooms configured to grade level and subject matter, could be under construction by spring and finished a year later.
The expansion will serve as the new front of Riverdale Elementary, which almost from the beginning has functioned with a stack of portable units in the back.
Traffic will enter off Miller Farms Road, curving past the gym and classroom wings on either side of a boulevard, allowing parents to cut in half the time they spend in line during arrival and departure. School bus traffic will wind up the north side and drop students off at a second entrance.
The front door will be tucked amid bio-swales, wild grasses planted in rock and gravel to absorb rain runoff and reduce mowing and maintenance.
The exterior of the This 3-D schematic shows the interior of the planned addition to Riverdale Elementary School in Germantown. classroom wings will be glass, flooding the classrooms with natural light. Southern-exposed outside walls will have overhangs to eliminate glare and heat.
There will be no heating or cooling units on the rooftop, saving on future roof repairs and 30 percent on heating and cooling expense. The flooring will be either an antimicrobial carpet, low pile, or an organic tile floor. Neither will require strong chemicals for cleaning.
“What I think is really neat is that with the existing building, we have not had the ability to have our music and art classes together in one area. With this, we do,” said principal Joseph Bond.
“One feature about the art room, there will be a roll-up garage-style door, so the teacher can take the whole class outside to work,” he said.
Hallways will be pushed out to the outside glass facade so light streams across them. Lockers will be congregated in common areas, instead of lining corridors. In the interest of space, some classrooms will have movable walls that allow classes to spill out into the sunlit halls.
“I love the natural light,” parent Josh Malahy said after the formal presentation. “I like the way they have incorporated some alternative classroom space in either the corridor or outside. I like the environmental landscaping with the bio-swales. It seems functional and not just aesthetic.”
Germantown — the school board and community — worked long to arrive at building materials and systems that will be efficient over time, but also speak to the character of the city.
“Shelby County built schools out of cinder block and they all looked the same,” said Supt. Jason Manuel. “We wanted our new schools to reflect the feel of this community.
Some parents would like to see the gym space enlarged to ease crowding for city league teams.
Through the summer and early fall, it wasn’t clear what the district would build. Plans were discussed for a new elementary, a gymnasium addition at Houston High and the Riverdale project. In late September, the board approved a $12 million budget for Riverdale, which includes all new furnishings plus $1 million contingency to cover possible overruns.