The Riverside Unified School District Board of Education this week got its first look at the proposed design for a new $118 million elementary school in the city’s Eastside neighborhood.
“We hope that you’re pleased with the school design, but if you’re not, that’s OK,” Orin Williams, assistant superintendent for facilities, planning and development, said. “We desperately would love to hear your comments and thoughts, any areas of growth and improvement, we’d love to hear that as well.”
The school, which will be built at the corner of 14th Street and Howard Avenue, will feature a separate play space for the school’s youngest students, a communal courtyard in the center of the school where the school’s administration and library will be located, a multi-purpose room and robust playground area that also serves as a buffer with the existing Lincoln High School.
“It’s a tight site, it’s an urban site,” Jeff Johnson, principal/design director for PBK Architects, said. “And so we’re packing every square foot of this site and maximizing it.”
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The campus, as currently designed, would require the closure of Park Avenue between 13th and 14th streets as well as 13th Street between Park and Howard avenues and the closure of an alleyway that currently cuts through the property between Howard and Park avenues.
The district is also in the process of completing the purchase of the land needed to build the new school.
Part of the design process has been hearing from people in the community, including parents, neighbors, business owners and educators who have come out to share what they felt would best serve the students, which multiple board members said they appreciated.
“What really sets me at ease with the design of this school is the collaboration that both of you have insisted upon with the community and with district personnel all coming together to plan a great school,” Board President Dale Kinnear said. “So great work.”
The new school is expected to be completed in time for the fall 2027 semester.
“We are currently on schedule and on budget as our planning process is going along and sticking hard to the task that you gave us,” Williams said. “And we are working hard to build the most extraordinary school possible.”
A full recording of the meeting can be found here on the district’s YouTube channel.
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