Three elementaries in the Delaware City School District — Woodward, Conger and Smith — are primed for various upgrades after the Delaware Planning Commission approved several measures Wednesday.
Located at 200 S. Washington St., the 54,244-square-foot Woodward Elementary sits on a 4.5-acre campus that encompasses six parcels of land. The building was constructed in 1950 and renovated in 1985 before being expanded in 2015. Now, Delaware City Schools is proposing an approximately 10,730-square-foot addition to expand the building’s footprint to 67,974 square feet.
Proposed on the northern portion of the building is a 5,480-square-foot addition near the main entrance to the building that would include the addition of two new Pre-K classrooms and a Pre-K office. Also included in the proposed northern addition is a new visitor’s entrance. Triad Architects, who will design the project, said the existing front entry on the southeast side of the building is a far walk from the parking lot, which sits north of the building. The new entry will also be constructed for more accessibility for all visitors, whereas the current steps outside the entrance can prove to be difficult for some.
The addition on the southwest side of the building will include new art and music classrooms, as well as a grade-level classroom and a staff workroom.
Along with Woodward Elementary, the Conger Elementary building is also scheduled for expansion and site improvements. Since the building’s last expansion in 2015, the school district has purchased three parcels east of the building to make way for a future expansion. Proposed is an approximately 4,365-square-foot addition to the northeastern portion of the existing building, which fronts Winter Street. The addition would include two new classrooms and a third classroom that would replace an existing room in the building that will be converted to corridor space. Like the Woodward expansion, the additional classrooms at Conger are needed to meet the increasing enrollment projections in Delaware.
To improve accessibility in and out of the staff parking lot, the lot will be relocated to the western portion of the site. The relocation will allow for staff to enter and exit the lot from Channing Street rather than William Street. In order to make room for the new lot, the playground will be relocated to the southeast portion of the site, where the current staff lot sits.
Not to be outdone, Smith Elementary is also set to receive site improvements. Planning commission approved a request by the school district to expand the parking lot on West Heffner Street to increase the number of parking spaces from 30 to 57 spaces. The playground, which runs along Mason Avenue on the southern portion of the site, would also be expanded west by approximately half an acre.
All three requests will be considered by Delaware City Council for final approval, beginning with the first readings at the next meeting on Monday, Dec. 14.
