At a meeting last night (Tuesday), Alexandria City Public Schools outlined the road ahead for modernizing the 85-year-old George Mason Elementary School.
The presentation said the School Board will be selecting a concept design for the school. This concept will determine site placement, building mass and more.
Over the fall and winter, things like parking site access and the interior layout will be determined.
At the presentation, Senior Capital Program Manager Arthur Carpenter-Holmes said the design team was tasked with avoiding net loss of open space at the site and keeping multi-use fields, playgrouns, tennis courts and at least one baseball diamond.
“There will be at least one baseball field and it will be greatly improved,’ Carpenter-Holmes said. “I’m not saying it will be Nats Park, but it will be nice.”
Carpenter-Holmes said the community has also raised concerns about the tree canopy at the site.
“There is a strong requirement that the tree canopy needs to be maintained or enhanced,” Carpenter-Holmes said. “We’re working with our design and landscape architects to preserve as many heritage-type trees as possible.”
After the School Board selects a design the project will head to Planning and Zoning this winter for plan reviews.
Construction on the project is scheduled to kick off sometime in summer 2025. Construction will continue through summer 2027 when the school will reopen.
“We are in the most significant era of new school construction in our City’s history,” Mayor Justin Wilson said in his newsletter. “With the resources now in place, we must work collaboratively to ensure that these new facilities come to reality. These long-term investments become critical to support the success of our students in the generations to come.”
