High School Design to Upgrade Fayetteville?s Future Look

Tomorrow’s Fayetteville High School won’t look much like the redbrick schoolhouses of yesteryear.

Gone will be today’s mishmash of structures representing different eras and lacking curbside appeal. It will be replaced by a seamless whole defined by a visionary design that catches the eye and demands attention.

Construction on the upcoming expansion/renovation of FHS is set to begin on June 8. The architectural team of Hight Jackson/DLR Group/Marlon Blackwell presented updated design ideas to the Fayetteville School Board on May 3.

Funding exists by way of the Qualified School Construction Bond Program, a key section of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The Fayetteville School District received $52 million through this process. In February, the school board elected to put $45 million toward what was described as the less disruptive, less expensive master plan. Either route meant completing an impressive vision in segments.

Future FHS students stand to gain a great deal via the community’s wish to present young people with the best, and most affordable, learning environment available, including: a performing arts center, cafeteria space, a new gymnasium, locker rooms, administration space, and class/lab space. All told, this first stab at creating a new FHS will produce 234,360 SF of space.

A future Phase II will include a complete overhaul of the school’s northeast quad that will create an additional 284,540 SF of original/renovated space.

In September 2009, Fayetteville voters rejected a proposed 4.9 mil property tax increase to fund up to $115 million in bonds to build a new high school. This followed years of debate over whether a new FHS should be built on the current site or moved to a different location. Hope for a refurbished high school seemed extinguished with the proposal’s subsequent drubbing at the ballot box.

The reason for 2009’s election is the same reason why construction is in the process of breaking ground: FHS (built in 1952) is unable to handle today’s large student body. Extra, modern space is a must.

Bigger news may be around the corner: the Fayetteville School District will learn in June if it is to receive still more funds via QSCB. The district applied for $50 million to complete Phase II of the project. District officials hope to finish the FHS master plan within the next five years.

Public Information Office Alan Wilbourn said if Fayetteville doesn’t receive enough funding to get the job done, a slight millage increase to reach the finish line isn’t out of the question.