Public gets a peek at new Ross High design
School to feature academic areas surrounding interior courtyard
FREMONT - Residents got to see renderings of what the new Fremont Ross High School may look like Wednesday, as Fremont City Schools Superintendent Jon Detwiler delivered an update on a highly anticipated construction project slated to break ground in June 2019.
Scott Alleman, lead architect for ThenDesign Architecture (TDA), and Detwiler hosted a public meeting at Fremont Middle School on the new high school building's design and construction timetable.
Alleman posted three architectural renderings that showed the new high school's North Street entrance, a main student and community entrance, and a view of the school from the Fangboner Road/North Street intersection.
He said the new Ross building will have 29 classrooms and a student resource office station.
The new building will feature six staircases, with "monumental" stairwells to be located outside the student dining area and the media center.
Detwiler said traffic flow and student safety continue to be two of the biggest issues surrounding the high school's construction.
The superintendent said he held another safety meeting recently with representatives from the Sandusky County Sheriff's Office, Fremont Police Department, Fremont Fire Department and Sandusky County EMS regarding the new high school.
Parents picking up and dropping off Fremont Ross students will come in off Fangboner Road to an entry drive, Alleman said.
He said students on foot and visitors would primarily use the new North Street entrance.
The building's main academic areas will surround an interior courtyard, Alleman said.
"It's important that every classroom has natural daylight and every classroom has a window," Alleman said.
Voters in May 2017 approved a $58.6 million levy to construct four new elementary buildings and one new Ross High School as part of a facilities plan to upgrade building quality and technologies.
Alleman said the project's design development phase should be done by September. Construction would begin in June 2019, with completion of the new Ross building scheduled for the summer of 2021.
The existing Fremont Ross High School, built in 1958, will remain open for classes while the new building is under construction.
Once the new building opens in 2021, workers will immediately begin tearing down the old Fremont Ross building, Alleman said.
Detwiler said the school district is still trying to determine where it will move its bus garage. He said FCS was considering several locations within Fremont for the garage.
In June, the Fremont City Schools board discussed making its new elementary school buildings two stories high, instead of one, to save money on each building's construction.
FCS Board President Shantel Laird told board members that the savings compared to the proposed one-story schools could be as much as $1 million per building, based on feedback from the building project design team and construction manager.
After Wednesday's meeting, Laird said building material costs have skyrocketed since the levy's passage last May.
She said the state does not, adjusting for inflation, provide additional funds for construction and the district will not be asking taxpayers for additional money for either the high school or elementary school projects.
Laird said the district still needs final approval from the board and the state to make its new elementary schools two-story buildings as opposed to one-story facilities.
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