SOLON, Ohio – The Solon Board of Education is considering the possibility of renovating Solon High School or demolishing the existing high school and building a new one.
Mike Acomb, director of business and human resources and chief operating officer for the district, presented feasibility and cost studies for both options during an Oct. 9 board work session.
Acomb said his recommendation to the board was to consider building a new high school.
“There seems to be more opportunity and value in this plan,” he said. “The renovation plan is disruptive and too complex.”
Superintendent Fred Bolden added, “New construction can help overcome some of the challenges encountered with vintage construction.”
The work session consisted of updates by administrators on the district’s strategic plan.
Two elements of the strategic plan, facilities and responsive practices, were discussed on October 9. Two more elements, finance and communication, were discussed in a separate working session on October 21.
The facilities update addressed the Solon Schools’ commitment to improving spaces that support academics, the arts, athletics and activities.
Acomb said there is a need for more square footage at the high school.
“Generally speaking, with the spaces we have, we will look for ways to make them bigger,” he said.
Acomb said the district has commissioned two studies and worked with architects from Sol Harris/Day Architecture of North Canton.
He said the estimated cost of a basic plan to renovate Solon High School is approximately $161.3 million.
The basic plan for constructing a new building would actually cost less, Acomb said. That estimate is about $134 million.
Acomb said the basic plan for the renovation study does not include three optional phases: a new field house, a bus complex and a storage facility.
Including these options would increase the estimated renovation cost to about $180.9 million, he said.
The basic plan for new construction also does not include those three optional phases and a renovation of the athletics complex, Acomb said.
If these options are included, the cost estimate for the new construction would be about $173.9 million, he said.
So the cost savings on new construction would be about $27.3 million with the basic plan and about $7 million with the full plan, he said.
A bond issue would be required to finance a renovation or new construction. Treasurer Tim Pickana discussed this item in more detail during the board’s Oct. 21 work session.
Acomb said the figures presented were based on 2023 construction costs.
Construction costs have risen an average of about 3.5 percent this year, he said.
“Whatever we do, the quality of the building must match our standard of excellence,” Acomb said.
“We strive for a high-quality facility that is adapted to current and future needs. (We would) prioritize needs over wants and budgetary responsibility.”
New construction would take less time
Acomb said another benefit of new construction is that it takes an estimated four years to build a new high school, as opposed to an estimated 10 years if the board opts for renovation.
“You also get more value out of (new construction),” he said.
“For less money and four years, you get 31,013 square feet for a new high school, versus 318,794 square feet for a renovated high school.
“Both plans address adequacy concerns.”
Acomb said the disruption that would occur with a renovation “could be very significant for an entire decade.”
“A whole generation and a half generation of kids would never know Solon High School without it being built,” he said.
A new high school also guarantees newer educational institutions designed for the future, Acomb said.
“No matter what happens, there will be discomfort,” said board chair Julie Glavin. “There is always construction going on.”
Bolden warned the board that “this is not a design of what the building is going to look like or anything like that.”
“This is about a feasibility and cost study on what the estimated cost would be for a building of the necessary square footage with the amenities that we are looking for,” he said.
“This is just the preliminary work.”
Acomb said the renovation study noted that access to daylight is critical to student learning, “not just from an academic perspective, but also from a wellness perspective.”
“If a renovation is chosen, part of the plan would be to increase daylighting,” he said. “But the limitations we have are somewhat significant.
“The majority of the learning and staff support environments do not have access to daylight due to the existing layout.”
Acomb said there may be an opportunity to add skylights to the existing building, but the options for introducing daylight are “very limited.”
Acomb said in the renovation study that about $24 million of the estimated $161.3 million would go toward creating a 70,000-square-foot expansion, which he said is necessary for “swing space.”
“You’re adding 70,000 square feet, which is more classrooms and more spaces,” he said. “But this addition is not optimal.”
Solon High School was built in 1949 and has had several additions since then.
“What we have is a very large high school with a lot of additions,” Acomb said. “I think it is unique in the region.
“But not everyone has the limitations that we have, with the double corridor construction or the additions.”
Bolden said the district is trying to make the high school classrooms more adequate.
“When we’re going to do a renovation study, we’re not just talking about cosmetic changes,” he said. “We’re talking about actually doing important work.
“This (renovation plan) will not address the 70-year-old mechanical components buried beneath some of our classrooms.”
Acomb said a renovation would still involve “a very complicated physical plant” at the high school.
“Improvement of sports facilities would be limited to renovation of changing rooms and things like that,” he said.
“That $161 million (estimate) does not include a field house, the bus complex or the storage facility. It simply brings Solon High School up to speed wherever possible and creates a 70,000-square-foot swing space.
Bolden added, “We’re essentially adding another arm to the octopus that is high school.”
A new school would be built on Arthur Road
If the board chooses to build a new high school, it would be built on the site of the former Arthur Road Elementary School, Acomb said.
The Arthur Road building, at 33425 Arthur Road, closed as an elementary school after the 2015-2016 school year. It was demolished in 2022.
“Parts of it would be three stories, instead of two stories (like the existing high school),” Acomb said.
“That brings the costs down a bit; you have lower foundation costs.”
Acomb said this plan not only gives the district the opportunity to build a new middle school that is slightly larger than a renovated school, but it also allows for choice of class size and whether there will be lighting.
“The renovation plan would not meet all of the new program requirements that came out of our interviews (with Solon High School administrators and teachers), but a new building would, for much less money,” he said.
In the new construction plan, the auditorium would be larger than the existing one at the high school, Acomb said.
“It needs to happen because we have such growing programs and such phenomenal quality of programs in that area,” he said.
“When you look at the size of our band, it makes sense, and that’s not something we can get in a renovated high school.
“And so as we look to the future and try to get these programs operating at an optimal level, this is something that needs to be considered.”
The current high school athletic complex would remain under this plan, Acomb said.
“The swimming pool, main gym and current gym would be retained as they are all in good condition, and they allow us to provide an athletics complex for the community,” he said.
“It also allows us to encumber land for a future field house if the community and the board mutually decide where they want to go.
“So we would demolish most of (the existing) Solon High School to preserve the athletic facilities and create space for that future field house on the site of what is now Solon High School.”
The district’s storage problem could be solved with this plan by repurposing part of the existing high school, Acomb said.
“Under this plan, significant improvements can be made to movement between students and parents, maximizing the use of one-way systems and extending driving times for cars within the school grounds,” he said.
Concerns about primary schools
Acomb also discussed space issues and strategic planning at Solon’s three elementary schools: Lewis, Parkside and Roxbury.
Acomb said the district’s concerns about the elementary schools are related to the strategic plan’s goals to improve facility quality and provide facilities aligned with short- and long-term enrollment and capacity needs.
He said there are perceptions about insufficient space for students in primary schools.
“There are fears that primary schools will reach maximum capacity in the next three to five years,” he said.
Other concerns, Acomb said, include inadequate staffing based on established class size guidelines and substandard common areas – such as cafeterias, gymnasiums, parking lots and special education and sensory areas – with growing enrollment.
“It seems sensible to plan what extensions of those buildings would look like,” he said.
“My recommendation to primary schools is to put these plans aside until they are needed.”
To view videos of any of the presentations during the work sessions, visit the strategic plan update page at solonschools.org/our-district-0/strategic-plan.