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City details rehabilitation plan for Springfield Terrace (Pearl Lee Smith) School, aiming for museum and community space
Summary
Staff outlined rehabilitation and programming plans for the historic Springfield Terrace (Pearl Lee Smith) School using tourism product development and a National Park Service grant; schematic design is complete, RFPs are pending and construction is expected to start later this year with completion targeted in 2027.
Luciana Spricker (speaker 11), municipal archives and history officer, briefed council on plans to rehabilitate Springfield Terrace School (also known as Pearl Lee Smith School) as a cultural and community facility.
Spricker said the building — constructed in 1926 and vacant since 2012 — was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2022 and that the city received a National Park Service African American civil rights grant supporting condition assessments and initial design. Using TPD funds alongside that grant, the city completed schematic design and plans to release an RFP for a construction GMP this year.
Spricker described the planned programming for flexible community gallery and meeting space, rotating exhibits on local history and culture, museum exhibits, incubator spaces for artists and culturekeepers, and accessible support facilities. Staff anticipate bringing a GMP to council for approval in the fall and expect construction to begin in the fourth quarter of this year with a projected completion in 2027.
Next steps: staff will publish the upcoming RFPs, finalize design documents this summer and return to council with GMP and construction timelines for formal approval.
