Palmer High master plan: board hears update on $100 million phased project; groundbreaking set for May 12

District 11 leaders and project partners presented an update on the Palmer High School master plan at a work session, reporting the first phase is on schedule and within the project budget and announcing a community open house April 22, a groundbreaking scheduled for May 12 and a target for board approval of the master plan on May 14.

Superintendent Gaurav opened the presentation, thanking the steering committee, students and community for input, and asked trustees to review both the technical phasing and the renderings. Dr. Wise, who led much of the project work, said the plan reflects more than 30,000 community touchpoints and that students have been actively involved in shaping the library and commons spaces.

Design and construction partners — Doug Abernathy of RTA Architecture; Chris Meek of Adolphson & Peterson; and Omar Calderon and Gabriela Bermea of Perkins Eastman — presented renderings showing a three- to four-story academic wing on the east side of campus (phase 1a), renovation of the historic 1939 building, limited work on the 1968 building to enable phasing, and future athletics work (phase 1b and later phases). The team described work sequencing: abatement and demolition of the tech building immediately after the school year ends (post–Memorial Day), construction of the academic wing later this summer, academic wing occupancy targeted for December 2026, renovation of the 1939 building finished around January 2027, substantial completion of the main project by the end of 2027 to satisfy COPs timing, and final site work into March 2028.

Project leads said the total project budget is approximately $100 million and showed a cost estimate that put the first phase just under that number to allow contingency for unknowns such as utilities and tariffs. A presenter stated succinctly, “We're on schedule and on budget.” (project staff attribution in transcript). The team said the budget includes design, direct construction costs and contingencies; they also noted tariffs and market conditions will continue to be monitored and modeled.

The plan emphasizes unifying the campus, restoring and reusing the 1939 building’s character (notably glass block and the historical diagonal entrance), and creating a visible library/commons as the heart of the school with flexible small-group rooms. The design reduces reliance on wall lockers and instead provides a mix of open library collections and small-group and private study rooms; district staff said the new building will be sized for about 1,200–1,300 students (current Palmer enrollment about 1,200) rather than the older building’s capacity of roughly 2,500.

On athletics and site work, the first-phase site improvements include a campus promenade, plazas, and a curved circulation path that can be retained in later phases; a future phase would add a full track and field and additional athletics facilities. Speakers said the athletic elements for full campus athletics require additional funding beyond the $100 million envelope (one presenter referenced an additional $60–$80 million for full gym/auditorium/athletics build-out in later phases).

Officials described coordination with the city for temporary closures of Boulder Street for construction logistics and said the formal process to request permanent street closure (if needed for later phases) requires roughly a year and city council approval; temporary closures and construction permits will be submitted sooner to support summer work. Project staff said they are in ongoing coordination with city traffic engineers and planners.

Board members asked detailed operational questions about the schedule, locker elimination, library layout and energy performance for large windows. Perkins Eastman and the district said the team will run energy and daylighting models and evaluate shading and perforated screen solutions to limit solar heat gain while preserving daylight and views. The district confirmed project spaces will be fully conditioned and ADA-compliant. The team also described planned communications and transition work with staff and families so Palmer students remain on campus during phased construction; initial moves this summer will impact a small subset of teachers (project staff estimated moving roughly 16 teachers this summer) with larger moves anticipated in subsequent summers.

Ending

The board received the informational presentation and offered questions and guidance; the project team will continue design refinement, energy modeling, outreach and the permitting process, and will return to the board formally for master plan approval on the district’s planned date (May 14) ahead of the May 12 community groundbreaking.