Robinson Daily News

Architectural firm to craft Unit 2 facility master plan



An architectural firm is crafting the proposed future of Robinson Unit 2.

The Robinson Unit 2 school board, meeting Monday at Lincoln Elementary School, hired the Farnsworth Group to create a master facilities plan for the district.

Superintendent Josh Quick explained the move was made in response to a facility assessment study the firm prepared last year.

“It’s time to step back and decide the configuration of the future,” Quick said.

Board members want to improve facilities throughout the district. Specifically, as mentioned at the October meeting, the board is interested in eliminating Lincoln and Washington elementary schools because of their ages and shortage of instructional space in each building.

Unit 2 has discussed purchasing land next to Lincoln Trail College with college officials and has been offered the 47-acre site west of Miller Lake for the construction of a new high school.

“Although the proposed high school will not physically attach to the existing Lincoln Trail College, the location is attractive to capitalize on shared spaces, expansion of curriculum and usage of existing infrastructure,” according to the proposal for the master plan. “In addition to the new building, the site will also contain all high school sports fields, parking and other site amenities.

Farnsworth is to prepare a site plan for the new proposed high school and look at two options for how Unit 2 should proceed if the new school is built. Under the first, students in grade pre-K through five will move out of WES and LES into Nuttall Middle School and grades six through eight will relocated to the former high school.

The second option is the younger students move into the high school. NMS will remain a middle school but be renovated.

Quick and board President Bill Sandiford pointed out the former option would require less remodeling at RHS.

As part of the project, Farnsworth will provide architectural design services, create detailed drawing, work with Unit 2, review agencies, consultants and vendors. The firm will also conduct up to two meetings with district stakeholders to brainstorm ideas for the facilities of the future.

Drawings will include floor plans for the proposed layouts of the new RHS and the renovated NMS, as well as interior and exterior 3D renderings.

Farnsworth will design up to three master plan options before refining a “highly graphic master plan” and making a presentation to the board.

In the meantime, Farnsworth is also helping Unit 2 upgrade existing spaces.

The board approved having the firm prepare plans for renovating and modernizing the family and consumer science area at RHS. The kitchen lab, for example, has not undergone extensive change since being built in 1999 and is out of date.

Should a new high school be built, the FSC area could be used by middle school students. Those classes haven’t been offered at that grade level in years.

Farnsworth will also prepare plans for replacing hardware on doors at RHS, NMS and WES. The work can be treated as a health and life safety project.

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