Construction Begins on New Baltimore-Area High School
Baltimore County officials recently gathered to celebrate a groundbreaking ceremony for a replacement high school facility in Lansdowne, Md. The new Lansdowne High School comes with an estimated price tag of $156 million and will cover 318,461 square feet, according to local news.
The existing facility is more than 60 years old and faces numerous maintenance issues including lack of wheelchair accessibility, broken water fountains and insufficient air conditioning, local news reports. Once the new school is built, the existing school will be demolished to clear room for athletic fields and other amenities.
The finished product will include three three-story wings connecting to a two-story wing for physical education and fine arts, local news reports. The new facility will have the capacity for 1,759 students.
Funding for the project comes from Baltimore County’s $2.5-billion, 15-year Improvement Plan for All Schools. Various proposals had been made in 2016 and 2017 to renovate or replace the structure, but a $30-million plan renovation plan was put on hold in 2017 when parents made the push for a new building, local news reports.
“When it looked like the reality of a new school might not happen, this community rallied together, found the courage to keep on moving, and never gave up,” said Allison Seymour, Lansdowne High School Principal, at the groundbreaking ceremony. “Today, we are here celebrating what this new campus will be, represents to those who live in this community, those who graduated from this school, those who currently attend this school, and those who are to come.”
About the Author
Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].