Central Campus thread

[Ingersoll1978]

This is something I'd love to see...

Committee takes on Central Campus issue

By DANA BOONE
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
April 7, 2005
Deciding what to do with the aging Des Moines Central Campus building will dominate the work of a committee of staff, students, parents and business leaders in the coming months.

The committee, which has about 42 members, will make recommendations later this year about the school's needs, including whether the building should be renovated or the program moved elsewhere. Members are engaged in a comprehensive study of the school's programs, current site and future needs.

"Central Campus with its premier programs needs a premier facility," said committee co-chairwoman Erin Stoen , coordinator of school's career and technical institute.

Central Campus serves 2,200 students from 29 school districts and houses the academy for advanced classes, along with career and technical programs.

Stoen stressed the need for broad community involvement in the process. About 25 people attended Wednesday's meeting at Central Campus, originally an automobile assembly plant built in 1916.

Duane Van Hemert , Des Moines' executive director of facility management, told the committee that rumors circulating that the building, at 1800 Grand Ave., had been sold were false.

He said he initiated contact with developers to gauge the suitability of the site for development and the value of the building. He declined to say which developers were taken on tours. He said that they did not discuss sale prices, but that "there is interest in this building."

Parents and teachers on the committee asked questions about the process. Parent Sharon Walsh asked officials how proceeds from the sale of the school would be used. Van Hemert said the board would guide the decisions, but the money could be used "no matter what we decide."

Central Campus teacher Elaine Wolf asked about the fate of Central Academy. About 100 academy students and teachers were moved this year to the John and Mary Pappajohn Higher Education Center at 12th Street and Grand Avenue.

Stoen said more academy students will move to the center next fall, but nothing has been determined about the permanent location of the academy.

A teacher asked whether the district already owns centrally located land that is suitable for Central Campus. Van Hemert responded that the district does not own suitable land.

Van Hemert urged committee members to attend meetings on possible changes to the district's sales tax building plans. Projections from the 1-cent sales tax Polk County voters approved in 1999 have plummeted. He said less than $10.7 million is available to renovate or rebuild Central Campus, but he did not have the current figure.

The next committee meeting is at 2:45 p.m. May 4 at the Central Campus library.

[dmluvr]

Very very interesting here. Obviously, no surprise that developer's are interested in this, but I have a feeling that it's going to be quite the process to get central campus relocated after gauging the article. However, it could spark another building downtown being built, however, my guess would be that they whould rehab another location. Hoooooowever!!--why not add a another education facility next to pappajohn in the gateway area??

Something is going to happen here, how long? That's the question.

[Guest]

not a bad idea.

[Better Life dude]

A few days ago I had a chance to see the plans for the Des Moines Public School's new Central Academy classrooms that are going in at the Wallace Homestead building. The renovations are supposed to be completed in time for fall 2008 classes. You may recall late last year discussion about what to do with remaining construction dollars and one of the choices made was to not build an addition to the Pappajohn building in the Gateway but instead purchase and fix up the Wallace Homestead building. I think this was a good choice since it's next door to the existing Central Campus building and part of the deal is to get the big parking garage behind the Wallace Homestead building.

I am excited because my kids one day will take classes at the Central Academy and a nice facility is now available to them. The Des Moines public school system has arguably the best program in Iowa for advanced placement classes and programs for gifted and talented students. DMPS is also the first in Iowa to have the International Baccalaurette program. The new Wallace Homestead building will help to keep the programs top notch.

Link to pdf of the floor plans:
http://www.dmps.k12.ia.us/schoolsfirst/wallacehomesteadpresentation.pdf

[Des Moineser]

Now, can we get rid of the old factory where the classrooms are currently located?

[Better Life dude]

The old factory will also be partially renovated for the existing Central Campus High School programs that will remain there: The tech classes & Scavo. The old building isn't going away anytime soon. All these decisions are a compromise in trying to stretch the remaining construction dollars that disappear in a couple years.

Want to learn more? Here's info on the Schools First 2008 status:
http://www.dmps.k12.ia.us/schoolsfirst/index.htm

[Des Moineser]

Honestly, I'd support the factory staying, but it would have to the grounds would have to be cleaned up and the building reclad.

I doubt that will happen.

[DMRyan]

I've also heard that a renovation of the old auto factory site is due for a renovation. I'm not sure how extensive they're talking, but it's time for some work to be done on the exterior. I think they did a pretty token renovation of the exterior in the 1990's, but it's already showing it's age pretty badly. I think the school district made the right choice in buying the Homestead Wallace Building. The rehab of this building has to be cheaper than building a new tech campus in Sherman Hill and expanding the advanced placement classes in a Pappajohn Higher Ed Center expansion.

[Mototail]

There was a link somewhere around this site that said they could either build new or renovate for the same price.

[DMRyan]

The renovation of the Wallace Building is well underway. The new windows they're putting in really help to modernize and clean up the look of the building from the south. It's not luxury condos, but not a bad use for this building. Now, if they could only pump some money into fixing up that monster of a building currently holding the Central Campus...

From the Business Record:

Wallace-Homestead

Renovations of the Wallace-Homestead Building, an extension of Des Moines' Central Campus facility for Central Academy, are under way.

With a $7.3 million renovation budget, work on the building located immediately west of Central Campus at 1912 Grand Ave. began in January and will "hopefully" be completed by August, before the new school year, said Bill Good, chief operation officer for the Des Moines Independent Community School District.

Academy students are currently attending classes in the John and Mary Pappajohn Education Center.

The project will include interior renovations of three floors for about 30 classrooms, including six science laboratories, general education classrooms and an art classroom. Six to eight classrooms could be added on another floor.

Wireless technology will be available throughout the building and in the classrooms. The windows will be replaced to enhance efficiency and natural light. Student gathering areas will be incorporated to the design of the building.

"It creates an extension of Central Campus immediately adjacent to it," Good said. "It creates a direct campus feel. And we will gain 190 parking stalls with the purchase."

[Better Life dude]

I look forward to the open house when the Wallace building is finished. I hope my kids will be using the Central Acadamy in the upcoming years!

[Aulus]

Your kids should have a good experience there if they ever take classes there.

My daughter, while officially graduated from Roosevelt, went to Central Campus for German and radio/TV broadcasting. In her junior and senior years, she had her own show on the radio and was assistant programming director her senior year. They also have absolutely killer marine biology courses there.

BTW, the way the school maps are drawn, your kids' high school would be Lincoln.

[Better Life dude]

BTW, the way the school maps are drawn, your kids' high school would be Lincoln.

We are aware of that. Nothing against Lincoln HS, but we will try to get them into Roosevelt HS when that day comes.

[Aulus]

I don't blame you. Roosevelt is a great high school. Actually, my daughter was living in West Des Moines with her mother, my ex. Kate and our son, Marc, went to Clegg Park Elementary and Stillwell Junior High. However, after seeing what a hard time Marc had fitting in and doing well academically at Valley, Kate and her mother decided to transfer her to Roosevelt. Her step-father worked in the Iowa Dept. of Education and helped make that happen.

Lincoln was the thinly disguised high school in that wonderful, teacher written novel a few years back, "A Disgrace to the Profession." Odd things still happen there.

[Mulder.DSM]

Does anyone have any updates on the Central Campus building? When driving across the old bridge from Fleur, I noticed the back of this building is in really bad shape and could use at least a coat of paint.

[DMRyan]

Should be coming next year, budget crisis' notwithstanding.

[DMRyan]

Exterior renovation work has begun on the large Central Campus Building, with that blueish tinted EFIS material being removed. When finished, the original industrial brick work should be restored and the entire south side of the building (the largest eyesore on this campus) should look better with new windows being installed. This project is flying under the radar, but will mark a huge improvement to the building and a huge improvement in the gateway of downtown when coming from the SW.

[DMRyan]

The renovation of the former auto factory turned Central Campus is coming along quite well. They did the best job imaginable in taking this back to its former industrial glory rather than trying to clad this into something else like they did with that nasty stucco/EIFS job they did back in the 1990's.

[Better Life dude]

Here's some photos of the Central Campus renovation -- which along with the Central Academy building next door both look completed. I think both turned out very well especially considering both were "plan B" projects vs. the original plans a few years back. I have never been inside either building - I hope to soon. These two projects look enormous when you're driving north on Fleur Drive into downtown.

First two pictures taken from Meredith Publishing's west lawn.

Clause Olenberg's "Plantoire"(sp.?)

South side of building. Those are two new staircases.

The governor's mansion is in the left background.

On Grand Ave., this building is classical style architecture and looks like a great fit as a high school building. Much better as a school than as originally intended - townhouses and condos:




Next three pictures are the west side of the Central Academy. This is a huge building.





Underground parking entrance with Raccoon River at the bottom of the hill.

[DMRyan]

This is a very underrated project that exceeded my wildest expections! I love the new glass enclosed stair tower canopies, bringing a very cleaned up and modern look to the southside of the building. Instead of a cheap stop gap renovation, they went all out on the exterior that will stand the test of time for decades to come. This hodge podge of buildings is now a crown jewel and great entryway into downtown.

Now, on to getting the remainder of the money to finish an interior renovation.

[Young DSM Social Club]

After all my negative comments on DSM schools, have to agree on this one 100%. The buildings look great, EXCEPT in warmer weather how incredibly bad the lawn looks. Small I know when we are facing budget cuts, but a crappy looking lawn just shows a real lack of pride.

[Better Life dude]

After all my negative comments on DSM schools, have to agree on this one 100%. The buildings look great, EXCEPT in warmer weather how incredibly bad the lawn looks. Small I know when we are facing budget cuts, but a crappy looking lawn just shows a real lack of pride.

Central campus has a lawn? Where?

[Young DSM Social Club]

Central Academy has a small strip of grass in front where the trees are. Typical of most of the lawns at DSM schools, it is weedy and half dirt. Just looks crappy considering how nice the building looks and how easy it would be to make it nicer.

[wmjindsm]

The only thing that had bothered me is that they didn't do four windows on the left front of the building. Maybe they are still loading things throught those windows this spring but looking at it every day, it just sticks out at me.

[DMRyan]

I'm not sure what the end result will look like, but I'm liking the fact the 1960's looking curtain wall on the newer Central Campus annex is getting replaced right now. It's the very visible portion of the building in this photo that has the sign above it. If only the Grand Avenue brick facade of the Central Campus could be reworked, this whole behometh of a complex would be a beaut!

[DMRyan]

Update on the new window cladding installed on the Central Campus modern annex. Compare to the photo in the post above.

[Aulus]

Yeah, it looks very nice and is an improvement, but I do still kind of miss the old windows on the lowert section of the buildings. The windows were right by the rooms occupied by the radio and TV broadcast kids. They had old CDs glued up on the glass as decoration, some, as I recall, spelling out KDSM-AM. My daughter was one of those students in the late Nineties and put some of those up. She, as DJ Katze, also had her own radio program in her junior and senior years.

[Mototail]

Officials proposing closure of Gateway Secondary School

The lack of a school boundary and advertisement for the school doesn't seem like recipe for success to get families to move downtown and stay to raise their children. I'd say that this is a step backwards,if this goes through in a year or so, for the downtown community.

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