The Kenton County Planning Commission approved a public facility review on Thursday for a plan to demolish and renovate portions of Lloyd Memorial High School in the Erlanger-Elsmere Independent Public School District.
“It’s time for that building,” said Kenton County Planning Commission Chair Brian Dunham, remarking on the building’s antiquated infrastructure.
Although the facility review pertained to a piece of property that contains several district properties, including the central office and Tichenor Middle School, the plans submitted to the commission focused on the high school.
Public building projects, such as those connected to cities, public safety agencies and schools, are not subject to zoning regulations like private enterprises. However, public entities will often ask for a public facilities review to keep county officials informed and see if the projects conforms with county comprehensive planning.
The district plans to remodel and add onto the school. These changes include demolishing a part of the school and building an addition of roughly 40,000 square feet, as well as a new entrance and walkways along Grave Avenue. They also plan to remove and replace the asphalt on the south side of the property, replace the campus playground and expand parking.
Use the sliding images below to compare the current state of the schools with their planned expansions.
The building was first constructed in 1954 and has undergone several renovations in its lifetime, the most recent of which occurred in 2012. Noah Onkst of REH Architects described the problem it presented for the district, saying that due to its old age, “the building has become difficult to maintain.”
Onkst also said that the building, again due to its age, was “not particularly adaptable” to modern educational techniques and technology. The renovations will not change the capacity of the school; it will continue to hold about 750 students, Onkst said.
“We’re anticipating about two to two and a half years of construction,” Onkst said. Construction starts in the fall, and some students will need to be moved into mobile classrooms while the construction takes place. Bids for the work will go out in about two weeks, Onkst said, with demolitions and asbestos abatements beginning thereafter.
The planning commission cast a unanimous vote to approve the public facility review.
You can view and download the complete development plan for the project as presented to the planning commission below.