News Release
August 31, 2004
Second Community Meeting For North High School Campus Is Thursday, Sept. 23
A committee has been working to lead a master planning effort for a prominent parcel of land - and three school buildings - in northwest Denver.
The committee's charge is simple: to develop a facilities master plan to make the campus a model of school reform and facility design for the 21st Century.
The committee has scheduled its second community meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 23 at North High School, 2960 Speer Blvd. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m.
The parcel is 35 acres. It is home to North High School, Valdez Elementary School and a building that housed the Denver Arts & Technology Academy. (DATA, as it is known, has moved to another site in northwest Denver.)
The parcel stretches from near Federal Bvd. on the west to Zuni St. on the east. It borders W. 29th Ave. and Speer Blvd. on the south and W. 32nd Ave. and Dunkeld Place on the north. Thousands of motorists pass the land - dominated by the classic Beaux-Arts style structure of North High School - every day.
The committee that will develop the master plan for this parcel is composed of community members, DPS staff and administration and city and state agency representatives. Student involvement is being encouraged.
"This is the first such master plan that the district has undertaken and everyone is very excited about the ability to develop this master plan in concert with many city and state agencies," said Larry Williams, Manager of Facilities Planning for Denver Public Schools, Department of Facility Management.
Williams said community meetings are being conducted to provide information to neighbors, parents, students and the general public, and to receive comment from these groups as the project moves forward.
Among those involved are the City and County of Denver's Ashland Recreation Center (which sits just north of Valdez Elementary School), the city's Planning Office, Denver Landmark Commission, Historic Denver, the State of Colorado and the Colorado State Historical Society. The project was launched with funds from the $310 million general obligation bond approved by voters in November 2003.
Consultants selected to develop the master plan are Humphries-Poli Architects, a firm with extensive experience in the areas of historic preservation and community planning. Humphries-Poli just completed the award-winning restoration of Dora Moore K-8 School (846 Corona St.).
Assisting Humphries-Poli will be the firm of klipp Architects, one of the leading firms in the design and programming of educational facilities in Colorado. klipp served as the architects for new Denver School of the Arts (7111 Montview Blvd.), which was one of the projects under the 1998 bond program.
In conjunction with the Master Planning effort, the Colorado State Historical Fund has provided a grant of $29,510 to help fund a Historic Structure Assessment for North High School. The assessment will provide an analysis of the current condition of North High School and identify what restoration efforts need to be undertaken to restore and preserve the original 1911 Denver Landmark. Additionally, the Historic Structure Assessment will document past changes in the structure, analyze the programmatic needs of the facility and make recommendations for the treatment and phasing of proposed work, and will estimate probable construction costs associated with the recommendations.
For further information, please call Larry Williams, 303-575-4122 or contact him by e-mail at larry_williams@dpsk12.org.