Springfield school opened during World War II gets new life as home for STEM magnet
The Springfield school board recently voted to spend $2.1 million to gut and fully renovate a former school, opened near the end of World War II, as the new home for a magnet program.
The work will occur at the former Fairview building, widely known as the Hillcrest High School annex. This fall, it will house the Academy of Exploration.
Plans call for the popular program, which currently serves nearly 50 fifth-graders, to eventually serve 150 students in grades 4-6.
Travis Shaw, executive director of operations, outlined the plan for the project at the Feb. 14 meeting and the bid for the work was approved at the end of that month.
He said teachers in the science, technology, engineering and math magnet program were instrumental in rethinking the layout of the space. The Academy of Exploration started in space at the Discovery Center of Springfield and moved this school year to space inside the Geek Foundation.
"It wasn't just a matter of going in and updating and renovating the inside to make it look pretty," Shaw said. "But it was purposefully creating spaces so that we could have an elementary STEM school for these kids."
The now 13,828-square-foot school building along Grant Avenue was built in 1944, expanded in 1967 and added onto a couple decades later.
More:SPS Academy of Exploration set to move to new space in 2023, triple in size
Hillcrest was recently renovated and partially rebuilt. Once that project was done, the high school no longer needed the annex, which had served as the home of the marching band and Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, or JROTC, programs.
Shaw said the project is a complete "gut and renovation." It will include upgrades to HVAC, flooring, lighting, interior painting, windows, security, roofing, technology and tuckpointing and sealing of the exterior. Some interior walls will be removed and rebuilt to reconfigure the space.
The plan is to complete the project by the end of the summer so the program can move in by August.
Kelsey Brabo, director of SPS choice programs, said there were 221 applicants for the 48 fifth-grade spots this fall, The fifth-graders in the program this year will have the option of staying on for sixth grade. The fourth grade will be added later.
Board president Denise Fredrick said she recently walked through Fairview, where she went to elementary school.
"It's still a great old building but it certainly needs a lot of love and it needs a renovation," she said.
On Feb. 28, the board approved a contract with Nesbitt Construction, Inc. for $2.1 million that includes the work that was described plus the following:
Replacing windows in the 1944 and 1967 sections of the building;
Changing existing flooring in classrooms and the gym;
Providing new fiber optic cable for the relocated IT room.
"We do have partial funding in this fiscal year, that was part of capital, and then the remaining will be part of next year's fiscal budget," Shaw said.
Claudette Riley covers education for the News-Leader. Email tips and story ideas to criley@news-leader.com.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: SPS approves $2.1M plan to renovate WWII-era school for magnet program
