LEXINGTON — Plans for the pick-up and drop-off line at the new Lexington Elementary School raised a few eyebrows during a school board meeting Wednesday night.
Lexington residents got a first glimpse of architectural plans for the new PreK-6 building from Chris Bader, an architect with GDP Group, an Akron-based firm.
The two-story structure will be built directly southwest of Western Elementary. Students will continue attending Western as the project progresses.
During student pick-up and drop-off, cars will enter through the northernmost entrance and follow the drive along the perimeter of the property, then turn left to enter a U-shaped drive, pick their child up at the entrance, then turn left again to proceed north towards the exit.
The pick-up route will require cars to backtrack as they move through the U-shaped drive — a choice that prompted some skepticism.
“That’s a nightmare,” one woman stated.
School board member Rob Schuster asked if there was another potential solution.
“What you’re seeing is the final solution that we came to, but we went through multiple iterations,” Bader said.
The architect said the long drive behind the school building will help alleviate traffic on Main Street, where a turn lane will also be added.. He also said there will be markings or stop signs to help direct traffic along the pick up line.
Superintendent Kevin Young admitted the traffic flow would present a learning curve.
“The first couple weeks of school, it’s going to be all hands on deck, and I might be out there directing traffic,” he said. “But I think as everybody gets adjusted — we know how it goes — by week three we’re settled in, and I think we’ll be OK.”
The area where Western Elementary currently sits will become the new school parking lot.
Stormwater detention basins will be located along West Main Street in between school entrances.
New trees will be planted along much of the pick up lane to provide privacy for both the school and neighboring residents.
Crews began site work this summer. Bader said work on the foundation should begin by November. He said construction should wrap up in the summer of 2028, in time for students to attend class in the new building that fall.
Two-story school will include two gymnasiums, two playgrounds and a media center
Lexington Elementary School will have two academic wings, with students in Pre-K through third grade on the southeast side and students in fourth through sixth grade on the northwest side.
The school offices and common areas like the gymnasium, a smaller gymnasium/multipurpose room, music rooms and the cafeteria will be concentrated in the center of the building.
The second floor will include additional classrooms, art rooms, a media center and extended learning areas — wide, open hallways with moveable furniture where students can work on group projects.
The plans includes two playgrounds — one for preschool students and one for older students.
Mark Reisdorf, a Lexington resident who chairs the village planning commission, asked whether the size of the two playgrounds would be sufficient.
Young said there were discussions between school administrators and the architects about having the bus parking lot double as a “hardscape playground” and setting up basketball hoops.
Reisdorf also asked about the roofing material.
Bader said it would be a single ply membrane roof made of thermoplastic olefin (TPO).
Safety and security measures will include exterior and interior cameras, locked doors with keycard access and an emergency generator. Visitors to the building will come in through a secure vestibule that routes them through the central office before entering the rest of the building.
Shook Construction, which also managed the construction of the district’s 7-12 grade building, is overseeing the building process.
School board president Keith Stoner said the board is not required to vote to approve the architectural plans, but the district has worked closely with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission during the design process.
“We continually advocate for is what our district needs and what our teachers need,” Stoner said.
Treasurer Jason Whitesel said the project has to meet certain guidelines in order to receive state funding.
“We’re considered co-owners of this project with OFCC, so we’re part of core meetings with them. Every decision that’s made moving forward during the design process, we were part of those discussions,” he said.
“We’re trying to have the best design and a great building for our students when it’s all said and done. When we get to the 28-29 school year and the kids are smiling, walking into the building, it should be an exciting time.”
Taxpayers voted yes on new building levy in 2018
Lexington school district voters approved a 37-year, 8.6-mill bond levy in 2018 to fund the construction of two new buildings — an elementary and a combined junior high and high school.
District leaders planned to construct the new elementary and grades 7 to 12 buildings at the same time, as soon the OFCC released the funds.
After it became clear the funds would be delayed, Lexington joined the OFCC’s Expedited Local Partnership Program, which allows districts to begin facilities projects using local funds.
“We use our local money, they track it, they credit us and they’ll give us that money when their money is available,” Whitesel told Richland Source in 2023.
Thought the ELPP, Lexington constructed its new junior high and high school facility, which opened in 2022.
Lexington school officials originally planned to build the new elementary at the site of its Central Elementary building. The site was eventually changed to Western Elementary due to traffic concerns and the cost of site work.
