A 32-acre swath of largely industrial land in southeast Omaha is poised to become the home of two schools and ball fields.
The Omaha Public Schools board Monday unanimously approved two plans related to the site at 42nd Street between T and Y Streets.
One advances the design and construction process of an elementary school that would serve between 700 and 900 students. Design of the school will get under way soon, and construction could be completed for the 2011-12 school year.
The second plan signs off on the master plan for the rest of the tract the district purchased in 2005, which includes the elementary school site. The site eventually also would include a middle school and fields for football and soccer.
While no timeline was given for building the middle school, the elementary school is being designed with the idea that sixth-graders will one day attend middle school down the hill.
“It will be a cohesive campus everyone can be proud of,” said Rebecca Harding of RDG Planning and Design, the firm that developed the site plan and will design the school. She said converting the industrial area into a space used by the community should add a sense of pride for residents.
District officials have lamented the overcrowding of nearby schools for a few years now. Ashland Park/Robbins Elementary has more students than any other elementary in the state. Highland Elementary this year has 15 portables serving as student classrooms — among the most in the district. Pawnee Elementary also is becoming crowded.
Students will be drawn from all three schools. The new school will serve students living between Q and Harrison Streets, from 60th Street to about 40th Street.
The industrial tract must be rezoned by the city, and updates to city planning documents would be required before construction can begin. School officials and Harding said that shouldn't be a problem.
The tract runs from 42nd Street west to a set of BNSF Railway tracks and between T and Y Streets. The property will be fenced to keep children away from the tracks, and the district is seeking grant funds to build a pedestrian bridge that would allow students to walk from neighborhoods to the west.
The district plans to pay for the elementary school with construction bonds authorized by the federal stimulus program. Board members approved the sale of $39.9 million in bonds Monday. The bonds are expected to be sold this week. The elementary school is one of several projects to be paid for by the bonds.
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444-1037, michaela.saunders@owh.com
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