The Lampasas Independent School District Board of Trustees believes a new Lampasas Middle School building may have a home behind the Bozarth-Fowler Gym. This comes after voters authorized $115.55 million in bonds May 2 to fund the new campus construction.
During Tuesday’s called meeting with WRA Architects representatives, trustees finalized the new building’s programming and discussed site options for the new middle school.
Before offering their opinions on the location of the LMS structure, trustees faced a decision on the number of added classrooms and cafeteria size sought. Since the fall, trustees have pondered a larger cafeteria to accommodate two lunch periods and allow for future growth, versus a smaller cafeteria with more classroom space than the current site.
WRA Architects presented two programming options.
The first option – 149,493 square feet – includes an 8,250-square-foot cafeteria, three additional academic spaces, one special program space and one CTE space.
Option two – 149,689 square feet – features a 6,000-square-foot cafeteria, four new academic classrooms, two special program spaces and two CTE classrooms.
Trustee Randy Morris asked WRA Architects’ Justin Bell if it would be possible to use option one but include the smaller cafeteria from option two in an effort to save funds. Bell hinted the savings might be minute.
“There is an economy of scale with, you know, a 150,000-squarefoot building,” Bell said. “Those classrooms are going to be cheaper just due to the size of it. But adding on a wing, as you know, down the road with inflation and everything, it’s just going to be double.”
Morris made it clear he was not opposed to a larger core space like a cafeteria. He wanted to ensure the district comes below the projected $104 million cost for the new campus, and not above.
“I for one am hoping that we just design the heck out of this thing and save us some money so that it doesn’t cost us $104 million,” he said. “One of the ways we’re going to do it is to save on some square footage.”
Trustees Sam Walker, Harvey Stinnett, Rob Borchardt, Jeff Rutland and Board President Ryan Shahan all favored the campus layout with a larger cafeteria. Shahan said it might be easier to build a larger cafeteria now, planning for future growth, versus worrying about it later.
“I think we all want to be prudent in design, but I think we also want to make sure we do accommodate growth now because it is going to be cheaper now than it will be when we add an entire wing,” Shahan said.
MIDDLE SCHOOL OPTIONS
With school board members having given the architects an idea of what they hope to see inside the campus building, the next step was deciding where to place the new structure.
WRA Architects offered three site options.
Option three places the building on the east side of the current football field and track, linking it with the Bozarth-Fowler Gym and Quonset hut gym. However, this layout was too long and narrow for trustees’ liking.
Option one includes an H-shaped building on the property’s north side on land that contains a baseball field. This design would not require the relocation of the football field and track, but it would be farther from the Bozarth-Fowler Gym, which trustees plan to still utilize.
Option two also places the LMS building on the east side of the current football field and track, directly linking it with the Bozarth-Fowler Gym but in a more compact footprint than option three. This option would require the football field and track to be relocated to the north side of the property.
Bell noted option two might require the demolition of several classrooms currently in use and the demolition/ relocation of the campus greenhouse.
“We’re going to have to rework this site,” he said. “I see potential issues already with the track being too close to the property lines. There are some things we’re going to have to fine-tune.”
Rutland said he wasn’t opposed to option two but felt it might be unrealistic, as the district plans to use the current campus building during the construction phase.
“I think that would pose a lot of problems for your administration right now, teachers and everything,” he said.
Walker proposed placing the H-shaped or a square building on the opposite side of the campus behind the Bozarth-Fowler Gym, and shifting the football field to the north.
Shahan felt Walker’s plan could be the solution.
“I think, along with efficiency and trying to make sure we’re using the site as well as we can kidmovement- wise anyway, I like it,” Shahan said. Using Bozarth-Fowler, the tennis court stays in the same place – all the kids are in one central area.”
Borchardt, the board’s vice president, agreed with Shahan and Walker.
“It does seem like the campus would be a little more efficient having something not spread out, but down here on the southwest corner where the track is, closer to Bozarth-Fowler right in that area,” he said. “It seems like to me that would keep your campus more efficient from a students and flow standpoint.”
TIMELINE FOR NEXT STEPS
Trustees appeared to agree with Walker’s idea, which gave WRA Architects a clear sense of direction for building placement.
Josh Burkhart, who will serve as WRA’s project manager on the LMS project, provided a timeline for when trustees can expect the project to be completed.
The architectural firm is planning its schematic design and design development to be completed by Dec. 18. Then WRA Architects will work with Justin Yuling of American Constructors, the district’s construction manager at risk on the middle school project, to develop construction documents.
The firm hopes to have all construction documents approved by the city of Lampasas at the end of April 2027 before the project goes out for bids in May 2027.
Construction on the new campus would begin in July 2027, and continue for two years before the building is ready for the use in the 2029-2030 school year.