SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Academy of Arts & Academics — or A3 — is due for a face-lift and expansion that officials hope will benefit students and contribute to downtown revival.
The remodel and addition — with a budget of $2.3 million — will more than double the footprint of the 6,000-square-foot building, at 615 Main St., and give it an elegant new look, both inside and out.
Lead architect Galen Ohmart, of Eugene-based Solarc, worked with a group that included A3 and district staff to design a facility that complements some of downtown Springfield’s most attractive buildings, including the renovated Richard E. Wildish Community Theater across from A3 and the new Royal Building at Fifth and Main streets, which houses retail space and low-income apartments.
“What we were trying to do is generate a building that helped enhance the character of downtown Springfield and become a building that the school district could be proud of, and that maybe future buildings would want to emulate,” Ohmart said. The plans feature brick, a curved steel awning, abundant glass and display windows through which passers-by can admire student artwork.
The interior will include a commons area, an audiovisual workroom, a multipurpose room/dance studio and an arts and science room, plus new furnishings and a retractable “garage door” that separates two classrooms.
Driving the physical expansion is an influx of students to the small, arts-focused high school, now in its second year. A3 opened in 2006 to just freshmen and sophomores, but is transitioning into a four-year high school as those students advance. Administrator and teacher Mike Fisher said he expects enrollment next year to hit at least 160, up from 110 this year. The school blends academics, individualized attention and professional-level media and theater arts, to prepare all students for college, whether or not they choose that.
“We always knew we were going to need more space,” said Fisher, who helped launch the school with a $312,000 small-schools grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. “We’re not uncomfortable yet, but we are cozy, let’s put it that way.”
The school board unanimously approved a transfer of general-fund dollars — part of a larger-than-projected carryover that exceeded $10 million — to pay for the work. While such a project would more typically be included in a capital bond fund, board Chairman Garry Weber said the district didn’t know precisely what the space needs would be when it was planning its last bond measure, approved by voters soon after A3 opened.
“It’s easy for a school district to use general fund dollars for one-time expenditures that yield little or no long-term results, (so) here was an opportunity to take these general fund dollars we had and make them count for a long time for a capital improvement,” he said. “It’s not traditional thinking for a school district, but I’m going to say it was innovative.”
The district earlier spent $644,000 to refurbish the building, which it already owned, for A3.
Jeff DeFranco, the district’s community relations coordinator, noted that A3 has drawn financial support from beyond the district, including $179,000 in federal funds.
The latest investment, Weber said, “will transform what we already thought was a pretty cool-looking facility not only in look but in function.”
The construction, which will go out to bid in three weeks, should begin in the summer and be complete by early January.
