Amusement-park theme creates fun spaces at Westerville City Schools' new Minerva France
About 530 students and 40 teachers in the Westerville City Schools are in for the ride of their lives when the new Minerva France Elementary School opens for classes in August.
Many elements of the 65,000-square-foot building, however, are taken from 1895 to 1902, when the Minerva Park Amusement Park was in operation, according to Jeff LeRose, Westerville facilities director.
“There was an entertainment hall with minstrel shows and vaudeville acts,” he said. “We took some of the cues from some of the primary buildings during that time period.”
That’s where the idea for two turrets – one at an entrance and the other on the end of the building – came from, LeRose said. One of the turrets is a stairwell, and the other is part of a classroom.
“There’s a lot of influence with the design from M/I Homes,” he said. “We wanted to complement the neighborhood and make it fit in. You’ll see the exterior with white brick, which is something you typically don’t see. The look from the outside tries not only to implement features from the amusement park but also the design of the houses. The stone plinth is actually split-face block plinth. It’s got the look of the stone plinth on the houses. Again, the lighter brick reflecting the lighter colors used on the houses as well as the pitched roof.”
LeRose said a trolley car called the Green Mile once went back and forth from the amusement park to downtown Columbus. He said the school’s library, named the Green Line Learning Station, is a homage to the railway station that ran from Columbus to the park.
LeRose said the park also featured the Scenic Railway Roller Coaster, so the school’s cafeteria is called the Scenic Railway Café.
A curved hallway is also a nod to the park, said Bob Gibson of Triad Architects.
“The inspiration came from the Minerva Park Amusement Park,” he said. “They had one of the first roller-coasters. The curve came from the curve of the roller-coaster.”
During student and staff focus groups, LeRose said, both requested more natural light in the building.
“(They requested) more built-in’s, cabinetry, just overall larger spaces,” he said. “In terms of the kids, they want to see more color; they wanted to see more natural light; they wanted to see fun-type spaces. Once we get the colors and flooring in, the elements of fun will come through.”
LeRose said multiple colors were used throughout the inside and outside of the building.
“Knowing the kids wanted more color, we were talking internally with the design team about the Crayola eight pack – that first set of colors they use at that elementary level,” he said. “You’ll see orange, red, yellow, blues and greens. You’ll see all that in the building. More of the high-chroma colors are in the back. It’s a little more muted in the front, being more sensitive to the neighbors.”
Scott Dorne, Westerville assistant superintendent of operations, said Robertson Construction Services Inc. is the general contractor on the project that has general finishes, painting and flooring underway.
“When we brought teachers through on a tour, people were interested in coming here to work,” he said. “They were delighted with the turret room. In general, these classrooms are just amazing in size, light and storage which is a big deal.”
Dorne said hundreds of applicants from current staff want to work at the new school.
“It has been just pleasurable to see the interest that people from all across the district had in coming here,” he said. “With the realignment, we’ll have some schools that lose students, so some staff will naturally have to go with students somewhere. They didn’t necessarily have to come here. What we’ve seen is staff from all our elementary schools have expressed interest in coming here. So it’s great. I think people are interested in coming here and doing good work.”
He estimates the building should be finished in mid-May.
The new school is made possible by a combined 1.95-mill bond issue and a 5.9-mill operating levy that voters approved Nov. 5, 2019.
The bond issue also is providing funds for a new middle school, safety and security updates districtwide, renovations and additions at Annehurst and Whittier elementary schools, renovations at Hawthorne Elementary School and facilities-assessment needs at Hanby, Emerson and Longfellow elementary schools.
Dorne said work is progressing on the new Minerva Park Middle School, named after the village of Minerva Park, which is named for the first amusement park in Franklin County.
“What you will see this summer is the steel go up in a lot of places,” he said. “It’s really interesting to see a perspective on the ground over there. The slope of that property is so tremendous from the front of the property to the back, where it really decreases. In the back, it will look like a 2-story building, and you’ll see both floors. But in the front, you’ll only see the upper floor because the upper floor will be on grade at the front of the building. But, wow! When that one goes up, you’ll really like the design. It’s going to be special.”
Westerville South High School
Dorne said Phase 4 of the six-phase, $38 million Westerville South High School project is in progress.
“That’s the first floor of the south academic wing of the building,” he said. “Phase 5 is in design and will go out to bid soon – the second floor of the north academic wing. Part of South Phase 4, probably half of the square footage we’re looking at, are science classrooms and the media center, which are occupied right now. We won’t be able to start work on those until the day after school lets out. That project continues to be exciting because you get to see what it was in a relatively short time frame – six months or so what was there – and what it’s transformed into. It really revitalizes your perspective of the spaces.”
Dorne said the renovation and addition project are being funded by a 2009 permanent-improvements levy
At Annehurst Elementary School, work is being finished on the third academic pod, which is the last of the student classroom spaces, he said.
“We hope to transition into those the first week of May,” Dorne said. “We’ll transition all of our office and media-center folks into those spaces temporarily for the last month of school so they can get a head start on the offices.
“That’s actually a lot of complex work for 10 weeks, which is what we have in the summer. If we can get them three or four extra weeks that will be really good. Operationally, the school will continue to move on in May, but they will be operating out of some new spaces for a very short time period.”
Dorne said Hawthorne and Whittier are three-phased projects.
“The difference with Hawthorne and Whittier are that we don’t have swing space,” he said. “Almost all the work has to be done over three summers. This summer, we’re looking at all the hard wall changes, and then subsequent summers, we’re looking at general finishes in each of the spaces. The building’s hard walls should essentially be set up in August for the way the school is going to operate moving forward.”
Dorne said those are going to be “pretty cool projects,” too, but they will be more challenging because of the lack of swing space, meaning no temporary space is available for classes while construction is being completed.
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This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Westerville City Schools: New Minerva France school draws on amusement-park theme
