Add as a preferred source on Google

Louisiana District Prepares for Three Facilities for Rebuilds

  • By Matt Jones
  • 02/14/22

The Lafayette Parish School System in Lafayette, La., announced this week that it has selected construction companies for three rebuilding projects within its district. According to local news, J.B. Mouton LLC has been named the construction manager at risk for renovations to Carencro Heights Elementary and Prairie Elementary. The Lemo1ne Company has been selected as the construction manager at risk for the Truman Early Education Center. The two firms were named after a unanimous vote at a school board meeting last week.

The Truman Early Education Center will move from its current location to a new, 10.5-acre property whose purchase the district approved in December 2021 for $2.3 million. Funding for the project is coming from $26.5 million in ESSER III funds; local news reports that the project qualifies because it will meet COVID-19 health and safety standards in a way that the current campus cannot.

“It has been somewhat of a rose bush in the forest,” said board member Elroy Broussard. “It’s hidden. Nobody knows it’s there. Unless you’re going there, you don’t know it’s there. When parents are looking for someplace to send their kid, they thing about every other school—but they don’t think about Truman.”

Broussard said he hopes the increased visibility at the school’s new location will help boost enrollment and increase community awareness of the facility.

Carencro Heights and Prairie Elementaries, meanwhile, have been tagged for replacement since the district’s 2010 facilities master plan. Carencro Heights’ rebuild will occur at its current site and on a 10.5-acre property next door that the school board bought in 2018. Prairie will also move to a new location, a 22-acre property also purchased in 2018. Both the Carencro Heights and Prairie rebuilds are estimated to cost about $22 million each, according to the school board’s agenda from last week’s meeting.

The architects for each of the three projects have also been announced. Grace Hebert Curtis and DLR Group will work on Truman, Barras Architects on Carencro and Poché Prouet Associates will work on Prairie.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Round Rock ISD Completes New Early College High School

    Round Rock ISD near Austin, Texas, recently announced that construction is complete on a new, 46,500-square-foot campus for Early College High School, according to a news release. The new facility will allow the school’s students and staff to move from portables into a permanent building and increase its enrollment to 500.

  • Little Grand Market

    Designing for Belonging: Why Student Wellness Starts with Space

    From walkable site planning to flexible interiors, intentional design choices play a critical role in how students experience comfort, connection, and community.

  • Utah Valley University Opens New Engineering Building

    Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, recently held a grand-opening ceremony for the new Scott M. Smith Engineering Building, according to a news release. The facility is one of the largest engineering buildings in the state at almost 200,000 square feet, and it plays home to the university’s Smith College of Engineering and Technology (SCET).

  • Texas State University Completes Stadium Renovations

    Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, recently announced that it has completed a series of additions and renovations to its football stadium, according to a news release. Formerly known as the Bobcat Stadium End Zone Complex, the Johnny and Nathali Weisman Football Performance Center is an 85,000-square-foot expansion featuring hospitality spaces, banquet spaces, exterior concourses, and upgrades to the field house.

Digital Edition