Florida High School Begins $48.5M Renovation Project

Clearwater High School, part the of Pinellas County School System in Clearwater, Fla., has officially begun a $48.5 million modernization project. The school was originally built in the 1950s, and the project will involve demolishing 17 buildings around campus, constructing seven new ones, and renovating five more. The school system is working with the architecture firm Hepner Architects, Inc. and general contracting firm JE Dunn to complete the initiative.

The new construction will house amenities like an administration suite with multi-use collaborative space, a Central Energy Plant, a cafeteria, a media center, science classrooms, general classroom learning suites, ESE classrooms, and a new parking lot to be used for the school’s driver’s ed course. The football stadium will also get a new entrance and new synthetic turf for track and field facilities.

Renovation and remodeling work will include a new exterior and interior paint job; installing new HVAC equipment and flooring; converting classrooms into a new Family and Consumer Science room; and adding new ceilings, lights, flooring, and windows to several buildings. The plan also features a beautification element to the part of campus facing Gulf to Bay Boulevard.

JE Dunn Vice President Jake Nellis expressed enthusiasm that work on the project is finally underway. “We’re excited to be part of this significant renovation that will have a tremendous impact on the community,” he said. “The new façade will in fact be remarkable and will be a landmark in the [Tampa] Bay Area.”

The work is currently scheduled to be finished in fall 2023.

About the Author

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

Featured

  • Academy of Classical Education Breaks Ground in Louisiana

    Charter Schools USA (CSUSA) recently announced the groundbreaking of a new public charter school in Covington, La., according to a news release. The Academy of Classical Education at Covington will enroll students in grades K–8 and is scheduled for completion in August 2026, just in time for the new school year.

  • From Approval to Opening: Inside Travis Unified School District’s Fast Tracked Campus Expansion

    The Travis Unified School District (TUSD) in northern California includes several elementary and high schools serving over 5,400 students. In 2024, the TUSD Board approved the addition of sixth grade to the Golden West Middle School campus for the 2025–26 school year, setting in motion an accelerated effort to bring new facilities online in less than a year.

  • University of Pennsylvania Releases Design of Future Physical Sciences Building

    The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) in Philadelphia, Penn., recently released renderings of an upcoming 350,000-square-foot Physical Sciences Building, according to news release. The facility was designed by CO Architects and will unite the university’s departments of Physics and Astronomy, Mathematics, and Earth and Environmental Science.

  • A digital silhouette works at a computer, immersed in a glowing, interconnected world

    How Will AI Transform Learning Space Design?

    For years, higher education has designed learning spaces around technology as a tool for display, capture, collaboration, and connectivity. AI changes that equation.