Schools
Study Recommends New Wilde Lake Middle School
Architects recommended building a new Wilde Lake Middle School rather than renovating the current one that was built in 1969.
A feasibility study that examined how to alleviate overcrowding and improve Wilde Lake Middle School concluded that the best option is to build a new middle school.
The Howard County Board of Education is scheduled to discuss the three schemes presented in the study at a meeting Thursday. The different designs have small price differences. Scheme one, light renovations and an addition, is estimated to cost $24.3 million; scheme two, major renovations and and an addition, is estimated to cost $26.1 million; while building a new school is estimated to cost $28.2 million.
The study's authors, tca|architects of Annapolis, recommended a new school, citing the following benefits:
- No disruption to students during construction, because the new school would be built on the site next to the current middle school.
- A new school would fix poor circulation patterns in the current school.
- With added energy efficiency, a new school would result in lower operating costs over the life of the building.
- More windows and natural daylighting can be added at a new school rather than through renovations.
Each scheme would increase the capacity of the middle school from 506 students to about 662 students.
Wilde Lake residents asked the board to make the school a priority at a work session in September.
The school was built in 1969 and last renovated in 1996. It's the oldest middle school in the county. The study pointed to a number of structural issues, such as loose bricks, cracking mortar, and low curb cuts. While interior issues included an undersized cafeteria and kitchen, a number of handicap issues, a small music suite and undersized science labs.
The study's schedule plans for the school to begin construction in May 2015 and be occupied by August 2017.
If the new building option is chosen, it would be built where the current softball and baseball fields sit. Then, the old building would be demolished to make room for new fields and a new parking lot, according to the plans.
Scheme one and scheme two would add an approximately 30,000 square foot addition to the current middle school, upgrade heating and air conditioning systems, and renovate the current classrooms.
The school system recently submitted a capital budget request of $96.4 million for the next fiscal year. The school system plans to set aside a total of $26.8 million for Wilde Lake Middle School renovations in the combined fiscal year 2014, 2015 and 2016 budgets, according to its capital budget proposal (pdf).
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