Proposed Master Plan for former Magnolia Apartments property unveiled

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Homewood City Schools presented a draft of its proposed Master Plan for the former Magnolia Apartments property at a neighborhood meeting on March 7. The 24-acre property, located on Valley Ave. adjacent to Homewood Middle School, was purchased by HCS in December 2010.

Although the plans are still conceptual and open to revision, HCS Superintendent Bill Cleveland said the board wanted to present the plans to neighboring residents to solicit feedback before proceeding further.

The proposed Master Plan has prioritized building a new Central Office for Homewood City Schools and creating green space to serve the schools and community. The team behind the master plan worked to take into account the topography of the property as well as the needs of HCS, Homewood Middle School, area residents and the Valley Ave. corridor.

The proposed plan includes the following components for the property:

Greenway- Trees would buffer a proposed 10-foot-wide walking and biking trail along Valley Ave.

Perimeter Fencing- A new fence would run along Valley Ave. and back down east of the property line.

Cross Country Course- A course would be created that snakes throughout the property to accommodate the growing cross country programs at both the middle and high schools.

Access Road- Existing roads within the apartment complex would be utilized to create an access road. It is under discussion whether the road will be gated and open only for events.

200-Meter Track- The track would be relocated to from its current location at the southeastern corner of the property to a space just north of the baseball and softball fields next to Valley Ave. Foundation material removed from the apartment buildings would be used to fill in the land below the new track.

Athletic and Maintenance Storage Building- Appropriate buildings would be constructed between the new track and existing softball field for needed storage.

Parking for Baseball Field and Tennis Courts- Existing roads from the apartment complex would be utilized to create a parking area off of Valley Ave. that will be more convenient to the existing baseball field and tennis courts. Currently, parents, grandparents and others watching games/matches must walk up a hill from the middle school to access the field and courts.

Central Office- A one-story, approximately 10,000-square-foot building would be constructed on the southeastern corner of the property to accommodate approximately 19 staff members as well as Board of Education meetings and professional development, with a new parking lot located behind the building. It will be located adjacent to the Community Garden so that the main entrance to the building will be a patio or porch that serves as an entrance to the garden. The current office is located in an old house.

At the meeting, Kyle Kirkwood of Williams Blackstone Architects noted that once the apartment buildings have been removed, green space will reduce storm runoff running south through Homewood into Griffin Creek, which often overflows. All of this will occur even before any new construction is started.

Following the removal of the buildings, HCS first plans to build a sidewalk and greenway through the property to create safe routes for pedestrians, especially students walking to school.

In addition to William Blackstock, Brasfield & Gorrie, Holcombe Norton Partners landscape architects, LBYD Civil and Structural Engineers and Skipper Consulting are working on the project.

From here, Homewood City Schools and its team plan to continue to look into security measures and maintain dialogue with neighboring residents about how to best utilize the property.

Construction for the initial portions of the development are projected to be bid out in May, and site preparation should begin in June. The Board of Education building is estimated to be completed in April 2014.

The budget for the project is still being developed, according to Cleveland.