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ing traditional architectural and original construction elements. New landscaping, fencing, planters and security systems, as well as terracing that will elevate the Broadway entrance to Old Main, eliminating the stepped entrance, are planned.
Loft residents will have access to an elevated terrace on that side of the building as well. Loft apartments will range in size from 400 to 1,300 square feet and three will be two-story units. Internet connections, appliances and 13-foot-high ceilings are among the features to be offered to potential residents.
Bulldog plaza, a new public area, is being designed at the northwest corner of Central and Arno N.E., with a turn-around driveway, fountain and ceremonial gate for public use and activities like Arts in the Park. Elevators will be installed in the mostly three-story buildings, bringing them into compliance with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements. Dickson says the plans even consider school alumni. Alumni office and meeting space is to be made permanent in Old Main.
"The former library will be converted into office or business space while the gymnasium/cafeteria may work as a site for a technology form with the classroom wings converted for apartment dwellers," adds Flatow. "Extensive work will be done to the central courtyard, keeping historic elements intact."
"I remember how the kids used to congregate in the patio area at lunch or during class breaks. It was so neat to see that," recalls Bobby Santiago, class of 1959. He laughs as he adds, "I also remember some of them cutting class to go to the movie theaters that were just blocks away in downtown Albuquerque and how our principle had to flush them out of the theaters."
An on-going review of the renovation plans to make sure they comply with federal and state standards as will as honoring the historic significance of the structures is the responsibility of Linda Gegick, historical architect, with the New Mexico historic Preservation Office in Santa Fe. Meeting those standards without seriously altering the original architecture translates into eligibility for federal income tax credits and other benefits for Paradigm.
"Albuquerque High School is characteristic of what we look for in early-to-mid 20th century school building architecture," explains Gegick, "from its large windows and classroom designs to he concrete detailing and pedimented roof line. Old Main was designed by Trost & Trost, a nationally recognized architecture firm from El Paso that specialized in neo-gothic and gothic revival buildings." AHS, located in Albuquerque's Huning-Highland Historic District, is listed as a "significant contributing" building on the National Register of Historic Places. The neighborhood district is listed on the New Mexico of Cultural Properties.
Several attempts have been made since 1974 to rehabilitate the campus. In one such effort, the original auditorium was gutted. Flatow admits that some parts of he old AHS building are "in horrible shape." Driving past the campus, one can't help but notice the abandoned look of the place with its broken panes and boarded up windows.
The city anticipates that its investment in the renovation will be in the neighborhood of $11 million because, among other things, the water and sewer lines in the area are ancient and parking garages are expensive to build. "There's a live, 16-inch water line right under the AHS library building that needs to be re-routed around the campus," says Balizer. "We're probably looking at a half of a million dollars just for that alone." Balizer, who adds that Mayor Baca and the City Council have been very supportive of the project, says there
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"Sometime this fall" is how the developer prefers to define the schedule, but the parties involved in the renovation of the 86-year-old Albuquerque High School campus at Central Avenue and Broadway NE are aiming for an October groundbreaking. That's the hope according to Ken Balizer, manager of Albuquerque Development Services, the city's oversight agency for the project.
All Bulldog alums were given a last gander at their old classrooms, gymnasium, library and courtyard on August 5 at an all-class millennium reunion chaired by Bill Blackburn, class of 1943. For their perusal, developer Paradigm & Co. of Austin, Tex. Exhibited architectural renderings of the design changes that will turn classrooms into loft apartments and other spaces into high-tech, office or business use while retaining the historic elements and heritage of the buildings.
The last time the school's wide hallways, oak floors, double-hung windows, and staircases saw students was in 1974. That fall, the next generation of AHS alums were moved to a new location, the present-day AHS campus, at 800 Odelia Rd. N.E.
After a convoluted legal transaction that involved the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.) and a condemnation lawsuit, the City of Albuquerque, in 1996, obtained six of the seven campus buildings for $1.5 million from Ricardo Chaves and the Battaglia Family Trust. As long as the city and the developer meet the development agreement, the developer will own the buildings and their foot-prints while the city will own the land and infrastructure elements.
The Battaglia Trust owns the Manual Arts building, a 30,000-square-foot classroom, woodshop and assembly space structure on the east side of the campus that was built in 1927. Chaves, an AHS alum, says he "has no specific plans" for the development of the building at the present time although he has hinted at a restaurant, community classrooms and residences as possibilities. The court settlement mandates that when development starts, the owners of other buildings at the site must begin development within 18 months.
Rob Dickson, Paradigm's project coordinator, says in actuality four structures, Old Main, the classroom building, gymnasium, and library, will be renovated. Two smaller buildings on the north side of the school will be renovated. Two smaller buildings on the north side of the school will be razed and a 246-space parking garage will be built across the street. Old Main, the original high school, encompassing classrooms, offices, science labs, a ground floor gymnasium, and an 850-seat auditorium was built in 1914. The classroom building was added in 1936 to handle a growing student population; a new 55,000-square-foot gymnasium was built in 1939 and in 1940, the school added a library. Until that time, AHS students visited the city's public library next door to their campus at 425 Central N.E.
Another visit a student might have made in those days was to local restaurants and ice cream shops because, until 1939, the campus didn't have a kitchen. A cafeteria was constructed as part of the gymnasium.
"We'd walk downtown on our lunch breaks," says Avelina Battaglia, Chaves' sister and a 1938 AHS grad. "Lunch usually cost us about 25 cents. Sometimes we'd go to the Liberty Café downtown or to the Highland Ice Cream Shop right across Central from the high school. If we had 50 cents to spend, we'd go to the Alvarado Hotel, but that was pretty high fallutin'."
Tobias Flatow, AIA, the AHS project manager for the development for the development's architectural firm, Dekker Perich & Sabatini, says the school grounds and central courtyard will undergo a variety of upgrades while maintain
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are federal loam and economic development grants that can offer some relief from the financial burden and that at least one six-figure amount already has been awarded for the project.
On the savings side, continues Balizer, the developer is proposing to use "a closed loop, underground source, heating and cooling system, a sort of radiant heat that will require a well system. It's an environmentally semi-five, highly efficient process that will lower utility bills for the residents and tenants."
From his perspective, Dickson says there's still a bit to be clone before any ground i~ broken. "We've got a few big issues to resolve yet, from getting financing agreements to obtaining a building permit to receiving approval from the state Historic Preservation Office."
Other AHS renovation partners include general contractor Richardson & Richardson, Inc. of Albuquerque, Bohannan Huston, Inc. engineers, First State Bank and Fannie Mae -- construction lenders, and Grubb & Ellis/Lewinger Hamilton, leasing.
In spite of the few remaining hurdles, all agree that this is the year and this fall is the time for the long-awaited, much anticipated renovation to start, with the first accomplishment being Old Main, to be completed by late spring or early summer, 2001. Albeit morphing into the 21st century with an altered mission, the old Albuquerque High School will forever be recognizable as the city's first modern public high school campus, built just two years after New Mexico achieved statehood. And the city, developer, architect, and history buff' say that's the way it should be.
CAPTIONS:
Plans for the high school include the creation of loft apartments, raging in size from 400 to 1,300 square feet. Three of them will be two-story units.
"We've got a few big issues to resolve yet, from getting financing agreements to obtaining a building permit to receiving approval from the state Historic Preservation Office." -Rob Dickson
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