Morrisville High School update: parking deck, pedestrian bridge and off-site athletics outlined

Wake County Schools staff provided an update on the conversion of the former middle school site into Morrisville High School, describing a terraced parking deck with a pedestrian bridge, stadium and press-box upgrades, off-site practice fields at Cedar Fork, and an interior schedule aligned to open classrooms for the January move-in.

Leah and Alice of the design team said the conversion leverages existing site grading so the parking deck will be terraced into the slope: staff parking on the lower level and student parking on upper levels to avoid pedestrian crossings of the carpool lane. A pedestrian bridge and elevator will connect the deck to the school entry, providing ADA access and game-day circulation to the stadium. The design includes a plaza and collaborative stair at the deck-to-school approach intended as student gathering and branding space.

Athletics planning includes upgrading the on-site competition track and stadium seating and press box, preserving softball at Little and Davis, and placing practice fields, tennis courts and baseball at Cedar Fork. District staff said Cedar Fork is part of an existing JUA and Morrisville has agreed to light and maintain some fields and courts; the town will pay for light operation and maintenance while the district will coordinate installation and metering.

Staff described interior conversions to add a training room, auxiliary and main gym updates, expanded weight/wellness space, and a learning-commons dining area where the old serving line was. The district plans to complete interior construction by November, then occupy swing space starting in January, with the parking deck ready for operation when the school opens to ninth and tenth graders in August 2027; full high-school conversion continues in subsequent years.

Board members asked about parking stack capacity for events, pedestrian flow across the site, ADA access and emergency vehicle access. Staff said the deck and bridge design aimed to reduce on-site conflicts, provide stacking for peak days and allow flexibility (for example, temporary use of the bus loop for additional stacking in low-frequency events such as snow days). Trustees requested additional details on landscaping buffers and retaining wall heights near practice fields to address neighborhood visibility concerns.

The project schedule in the presentation showed interior completion in November, January swing-space move-in, and staged full high-school occupancy beginning August 2027, with other items completed through 2029 as the district phases in changes.