Our
New School
Construction of the German School at Clifton
& McAlpin
Project bids were awarded in August 2006 on 84,144
square feet for 650 students to be built on the site
of Clifton School's south building. Demolition of
the building was completed in January 2006 with construction
beginning in September 2006. The building should be
completed in Spring 2008. (Click images to enlarge)
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| Construction
Continues... |
Frequently
Asked Questions |
Why
we like the new building. |
Not
quite finished... |
Why
is Cincinnati building or renovating so many schools,
including Fairview? The
State of Ohio is helping local school districts by
giving them money for buildings. Cincinnati will receive
about $225,000,000 from the Ohio School Funding Commission
to renovate or replace all the schools in the district.
This is about 23% of the total cost of renovating
or replacing all the schools.
Why build new instead of renovating our historic
old buildings?The
OSFC and the Cincinnati Public School district have
established minimum standards for all new and renovated
schools. The OSFC will only let a school district
renovate an existing building if the cost of renovation
is no more than 2/3 the cost of replacing the existing
building with a new building.
What standards must new and renovated buildings meet?There
are many requirements. Some of the most important
requirements are: air conditioning; electric systems
that can accommodate the computers and networks needed
for education; adequate bathroom facilities on each
floor; elevators and other features to make the building
“handicapped-accessible’; a gymnasium
separate from the cafeteria; a site of at least 5
acres to provide enough space for the building, playgrounds,
bus access, and on-site parking; and formulas to determine
the size of a building based on the number of students
it will hold.
What's wrong with the old building? The old
building is a beautiful building, but it was built
in 1888 and is almost 120 years old. It would be very
expensive to renovate the old building to meet OSFC
standards. In fact, our beloved building was considered
obsolete in the 1950’s when the new building
was built. At that time, CPS planned to tear down
the old building and replace it with another building
matching the “new” building.
I've heard the new building is smaller with less storage
space. Why can't it be as big as the old buildings?
Fairview German Language School has approximately
650 students currently. According to the OSFC size
standards, the new building for Fairview will have
about 84,000 sq. ft. In fact, the new building will
have MORE usable space than the current building,
but this space is divided differently. The
Kindergarten rooms will be about the same size as
they are now. Regular classrooms will be slightly
smaller and will not have the large coat closets that
teachers use for storage. There are separate storage
areas on each classroom floor for teacher equipment.
The new building will have a gym and a cafeteria,
a larger library, and special rooms for science, music,
art, and a computer lab. It will also have a parent/volunteer
center and a community meeting area. The new school
will also have dedicated “extended learning
areas”— multi-use spaces for tutoring,
testing and group work. The new classrooms will not
have the huge coat closets for storage that we have
in the old building, but they will still have closets
and lots of built-in cabinets and drawers for immediate
use and basic supply storage.
Why does the building look like it does? The old school
has character. It looks like a castle! The new school
could be any school. The
new building does not look like a castle – that’s
true. But it is part of a complex of 4 related buildings
– the old Clifton School, which will be transformed
into the Clifton Cultural Arts Center; the old Carriage
House, which will become an art gallery and performance
space used by the school and the community; the Clifton
Recreation Center, across McAlpin Avenue, and the
new school. The School Planning Team worked with the
architects to make the new school fit in as part of
this group of buildings. The facade of the new school
and its detailing echo but do not copy the style of
the old Clifton School and the materials used in the
Carriage House. The cafeteria wraps around a magnificent
old Yew tree, the largest in Ohio, which was planted
some 130 years ago. The
entire site will be designed with landscaping that
enhances the building by providing a natural environment
while cushioning the more functional visuals of the
complex. The
northeast corner with its inflected roof and large
windows into the entry and cafeteria, address the
public corner at McAlpin and Clifton Avenues, a welcoming
gesture where one will catch glimpses of the life
inside the building while providing dramatic, light-filled
spaces for the children.
To learn even more about the progress of the new building,
see the wall display on the second floor (near the
office) or click here.
|
Frau
Mulligan watching the choir. |
It's
still a construction zone. |
Tom
the Project Manager saying "time for pizza!".
|
The
Daisy Girls. |
Doing
the "Reindeer Twist" for the construction
crew. |
The
first Fairview lunch. |
| 
Aerial
view, November, 2007
|
The tree as seen from the cafeteria. |
The library and computer center |
Mr. Jackson's machine room |
Gymnasium, showing stage |
A German classroom corner |
2nd Grade classroom |
Frau Mulligan likes what she sees |
The art room, full of cabinets |
The courtyard |
Working
inside the cafeteria |
Cafeteria
ready for windows |
Construction
debris down the tube |
View of the courtyard |
Work men positioning the cafeteria wall. |
Working
on the new school |
 |
I'm having a great time building your new school |
Crane at work, walls of gym |
Gymnasium, bathroom plumbing and hallway between gym
and art room |
The cafeteria |
West side second floor classroom wing facing the carriage
house |
Aerial view, May, 2007 |
Library/Media room on left, classroom wing on left |
Left to right -- art room, music room, library/media
room |
Art room walls and gymnasium to the left |
Temporary
Braces for Academic wing
|
This
300 ton capacity crane was brought to the site on
eight trucks. It was used to clear the wreckage at
the World Trade Center site
|
Putting
in the second floor with carriage house |
Academic
wing viewed from McAlpin Street |
Clifton
Avenue side of Academic wing going up |
|
Crane
that will install the wall panels - February 10, 2007
Previous engagement, World Trade Center |
|
Stacks
of interior wall panels |
The
floor and roof decks, this one of the extrusion process..
|
And
one the finished product |
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