Planning & Design Meetings Neighborhood Meeting #3 6/17/2009 - MinutesPalo Alto HS PROGRAMMING / PREDESIGN COMMUNITY MEETING NO. 1
Palo Alto Unified School District 17 June 2009
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PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL
Palo Alto Unified School District
PROGRAMMING / PRE-DESIGN COMMUNITY MEETING NO. 1
DATE: 17 June 2009, 6:30pm-8:00pm
SUBJECT: Palo Alto HS Update Meeting for the Community
ATTENDEES: See attached sign-in sheet
The following are the highlights of the meeting:
1. Architect Erwin Lee of DLM Architecture welcomed the public audience and
explained that the purpose of the meeting is to update the community on what has
happened since the Master Plan was approved at the March 31st Board meeting.
Tom Hodges added that the material shown tonight is “in progress” and that any
comments or concerns from the audience will be relayed to the Board at the June
23rd Board meeting, where an update of the programming and pre-design efforts will
be presented.
2. Lee explained that since the March 31st Board meeting, he has been meeting with
the various user groups to diagram out the conceptual planning of the new facilities.
He presented a list of the current projects, and number of meetings that have taken
place for each one since March 31st.
• Relocatable Planning -- 2 meetings
• Classroom Building -- 2 meetings Math Department
1 meeting Social Studies Department
2 joint Math / Social Studies meeting
• Media Arts Building -- 2 meetings Media Arts
• Theater -- no meetings have taken place
• Facilities Steering Committee Meetings -- 2 meetings
• Community Meetings – 1 meeting
3. Lee gave an update on each of the five current projects that are in the programming
or pre-design phase. The updates are as follows:
• Relocatables
• Classroom Building for Math and Social Studies
• Media Arts Building
• Theater
• Fields and Football Stadium Bleachers (Verde Design)
Palo Alto HS PROGRAMMING / PREDESIGN COMMUNITY MEETING NO. 1
Palo Alto Unified School District 17 June 2009
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Relocatables
There will be 6 relocatable classroom buildings (relos) placed in the courtyard, on
the patch of lawn that is adjacent to Building 700 and the memorial-bench lawn, and
three relos placed alongside the fence of the pool and the weight room. These relos
will be moved from their current location between the 400 Building and the
Corporation yard.
Classroom Building for Math and Social Studies
This project is a two-story building of approximately 41,500 SF (current trend). Lee
explained that “current trend” means the current area based on the programming
effort with the user groups. The areas will need to be reconciled with the Master
Plan budgets. The Master Plan allocated construction budget $17.56M. Current
program areas include 27 classrooms with resource room, offices, conference
rooms and restrooms. The Math Department is currently on the second level with
the Social Studies Department below. The program is currently being worked
through to reduce the overall area. The conceptual design will be brought to the
Board of Education in September.
Media Arts Building
This project is a two-story building of approximately 20,500 SF (current trend).
The Master Plan allocated construction budget $8.55M. Current program spaces
include 7 classrooms, darkroom, broadcast TV studio, editing rooms, computer lab,
conference rooms, offices, atrium (the “forum”), and restrooms. The atrium or forum
is the main space that all spaces open onto, which encourages the interaction and
interface of the building occupants. It is also a large gathering area for speakers
and meetings. The program is currently being worked through and the conceptual
plan diagram is being modified based on the media arts’ group input. The
conceptual design will be brought to the Board of Education in September.
Theater
This project has a theater sub-committee that is currently researching other
theaters. It is currently in the information-gathering phase, and is working out the
program and support needs of the departments. The proposed building has a
Master Plan allocated construction budget of $13.07M and will have a seating
capacity of 600.
Fields and Football Stadium Bleachers (Verde Design)
Hodges gave an overview of the home-side bleacher project that is currently in the
design phase by Verde Design. He presented four different concepts of the
bleacher layouts, each with a different impact on the seating capacity and adjacent
row of sycamore trees. The following are the highlights of each concept:
Concept 1: This was the initial concept, and is located in the same general
footprint of the existing bleachers that are to be replaced. This concept has an
approximate seating capacity of 1,410.
Palo Alto HS PROGRAMMING / PREDESIGN COMMUNITY MEETING NO. 1
Palo Alto Unified School District 17 June 2009
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Concept 2: This concept would mitigate the project’s impact on the surrounding
trees, but limit the seating capacity to approximately 1,183.
Concept 3: This concept would save the adjacent trees, but remove or relocate
the concession / restroom building. It would maximize the capacity of the area,
so that no future bleacher expansion could happen. The approximate seating
capacity of this concept is 1,400.
Concept 4: This concept maximizes seating capacity, making it approximately
1,900. It removes 11 of the adjacent sycamore trees and relocates the
concession / restroom building.
Principal Jacquie McEvoy suggested that the meeting attendees take a walk and
visit the sycamore trees to get a sense of their impact on the site. She pointed out
that along the Churchill entrance, there are actually four rows of sycamores, and
that the bleacher project would impact only the first row that is furthest away from
the access road. The sycamores directly adjacent to the access road would remain.
Hodges gave an overview of the CEQA process that is taking place for the site, and
explained that it is currently in the information-gathering phase. When the results
are complete, the District will have approximately three weeks to review the
documents internally. After that, they go out to the public for comment and feedback
before the Board adopts them. As a part of the CEQA process, there will an effort to
“master plan” the outdoor spaces. This effort will take a look at the uses of the
various landscaped spaces throughout the site.
4. The following are the highlights of the comments and questions from the
meeting:
What material will new bleachers be made of? Is right now the best time to replace
them?
o The current bleachers are made of wood, but the new ones will be made of
aluminum and steel. It is recommended that the bleacher project happen soon
due to safety concerns about the condition of the existing bleachers.
Is the District thinking about green building materials, drought-resistant plants and
sustainability for these projects?
o At this time, the funding for the commissioning of the CHPS process has been
approved. The District will be participating in the CHPS program for the master
planning of both Palo Alto High School and Gunn High School. (CHPS is similar
to LEED, but it is used exclusively for schools.)
The “snack shack” is in poor shape. Why not build it new if everything else around it
is going to be or already is new?
o There are budget constraints that prevent the District from building a new
concession / restroom building. The original home-bleacher project was for
“home-bleacher replacement” and it has already increased in cost.
What will become of the Haymarket Theater?
o The Haymarket Theater is below the line in terms of the 10-year master plan
budget. The repurposing of the Haymarket Theater has not been decided at this
time.
Palo Alto HS PROGRAMMING / PREDESIGN COMMUNITY MEETING NO. 1
Palo Alto Unified School District 17 June 2009
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Will all of the relos go away after the funded projects have been completed?
o Yes.
Has the noise from the train been a consideration in the design of the new
classroom building?
o Yes. Lee explained that the new classroom building will have insulated glass,
and that the buildings will be thermally and acoustically isolated.
What is the capacity of a new classroom?
o 960 square feet is the size of the new classrooms. They will have the capacity of
approximately 35 students.
5. Next Steps:
• Complete conceptual design for review with user groups and Facility Steering
Committee when they return in late August
• Bring the conceptual design to the Board of Education for approval in
September
• Move into Schematic Design Phase with Board of Education approval in
November
END
Prepared by Dean Schmitz of Deems Lewis McKinley. Please advise if you feel that any of the above items
are inaccurate or need further clarification or detail.
cc: Attendees
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