$99M price, large plans
C’ville eyes state-of-the-art school design
When it comes to designing the new Collierville High School, architect Sal Feraci is receiving input from more people than just those on his team of professionals.
“Several mothers have given us links to websites,” Feraci said, noting that most of them have to do with the benefits of natural light in an academic environment. Although no final plans are ready, Feraci, principal architect of the Renaissance Group — which along with Fleming Architects is in charge of the project — said he knows the proposed building would have an abundance of natural light.
That’s in addition to the 443,000 square feet of academic classrooms, science labs, gyms, art and music rooms, theater stages and vocational learning spaces, plus athletic fields.
It’s a lengthy list, but with a $99 million price tag, Collierville residents will expect to be impressed. While some residents have expressed concern that nearly $100 million could just as easily create a life-size replica of the “Star Trek” spaceship Enterprise,
school and town officials say it’s necessary given the 3,000 students it will be built to hold. And with perpupil and per-square-footage costs both below the national average for new high schools, they also say it’s not as extravagant of a project as it sounds.
The town has approved a tax increase to fund the debt, but no bonds have been issued, and a petition to send the bond sale to a referendum is possible — the school district and architects are trying to give residents a better idea of what they would be buying.
STATE OF THE ART
What does it mean for Collierville Schools to be “state of the art”?
“I think it means that the building that we’re building is for the 21stcentury student,” director of operations Mike Simpson said. “And we have to keep that in mind through that design process.”
Technology is a large part of that, he said.
Feraci said the building infrastructure will be designed to accommodate a full wireless network, but will allow for changes as technology updates come along. Each room would accommodate projectors, television screens, or the popular classroom Smart Boards.
“Making sure that backbone is in place is probably the most critical thing we can do,” he said. “And flexibility in the space.”
Simpson said Collierville is examining the idea of a program known as 1:1 that would give each child a handheld device to use during class periods. It wouldn’t eliminate the need for a campus library, but would move students away from physical textbooks. Fewer computer labs would also be necessary; that idea has already allowed Feraci to tentatively cut 49,000 square feet from the original building plans.
Simpson said designing for a 21st-century student also means addressing each student’s needs, whether that includes college prep or job training.
The school will focus on the areas of study known as STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — with extra workshop space for the handson projects at the center of STEM classes.
Simpson said addressing the needs of every child also means developing a well-rounded student, whether that child wants to play sports, act in drama club, or both.
Of the total cost, $10 million is designated for athletics. Simpson said no decisions have been made on whether artificial turf would be used for the fields. It would make them more expensive in the short term to build, but more efficient because they could be used for several sports and other activities year round.
At a town hall meeting earlier this month, a resident asked Supt. John Aitken why the athletic fields can’t wait.
Aitken said he agrees academics come before athletics, but “athletics are important, too.”
“I feel like if we don’t go now and get everything on one site, coming back with another property tax … it might not ever happen,” Aitken said.
THE COSTS
The national average cost per square foot for a new high school in 2014 was $235.29, according to a report from industry publication School Planning & Management. Collierville’s per-square-foot cost is $145. Those numbers do not include soft costs like engineering work, furniture and everything else to outfit a school building.
The same report said the average amount of square foot per student was 180. With 3,000 Collierville students in 443,000 square feet, the average square foot per student would be about 148.
Simpson called the costs “conservative,” given the national averages.
Arlington High School was built in 2004 to hold 2,000 students for about $40 million.
Simpson, who previously served as the director of operations for Shelby County Schools, said the $40 million may have included only construction costs.
Collierville’s hard cost to construct its brick and mortar building is estimated at $64 million — and it would be designed to hold an additional 1,000 students.
Feraci, whose firm was also the architect for Arlington, said there were several factors that made that project cheaper.
Prices for steel and other building materials have gone up, he said, but building codes also have changed since 2004, particularly in preparation for a natural disaster.
Energy efficiency has also come a long way since 2004, but at a cost. A push to lower utility bills throughout the year creates a larger upfront cost for construction.
While real estate attorneys are still negotiating for the land — a 160-acre plot south of Shelby Drive and east of Sycamore — Simpson said they estimate a cost of $25,000 a square foot for a total expense of $4 million. The land is owned by Bob Cartwright, who owns and operates Cartwright Nursery tree farm on the property and adjoining land. It’s also not actually in Collierville — yet.
Town Administrator James Lewellen said the land is in what’s known as the “reserve” area, land that Collierville has designated as possible for future annexation. Lewellen said the process to annex would not be expensive, and would require three readings of an ordinance by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and a plan for services and utilities.
Simpson said the land, which some residents have objected to because of its location on the southern border of the town, is favorable because sewer and water lines are already nearby, even if they aren’t yet built into the site.
A $5 million contingency is also built into the budget, but Simpson said it’s not there to spend freely if the project comes under budget.
He said they could “start digging in the dirt and find out 100 years ago there was a big pit there ... We haven’t even turned the first shovel of dirt to know we’re not going to have that happen.”