Work to begin on $55 million renovation of Fort Worth’s historic I.M. Terrell

After a long wait, the dirt is expected to fly on a $55.8 million remodel of the city’s historic building that was once a high school for black students.

The historic I.M. Terrell, now an elementary school, will be renovated in order to make way for the district’s Visual & Performing Arts/Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) academies. The building is expected to open its doors to students in August 2017.

“When you look at it, it seems the project gives the city’s African-American community the opportunity to come back to a vibrant community,” Trustee T.A. Sims said.

The start of construction hit a few glitches last year because of planning delays, including trustees’ discord over the selection of the site and the hiring of the contractor for the project.

School officials say now the project is back on track, as board members late last year reached concensus on the big-ticket issues. In upcoming weeks, contractors expect to prepare the soil and site utilities to make ready for construction. By May, efforts will double as work crews prepare to begin construction framing, said Glenn Anderson, an executive with Con-Real Turner, the construction partnership that was hired to perform the renovation.

“The real significant part of the construction will take place in the first quarter of 2017,’’ Anderson said.

Since the 1930s, I.M. Terrell drew high school students from all over the region until it reopened as Terrell Elementary school in the late 1990s. It was the only all-black high school in Tarrant County until the 1970s when Fort Worth schools became more integrated.

The campus, in Sims’ district, now houses 200 elementary school students, and is in a triangle created by Interstate 35, Interstate 30 and U.S. 287. Its neighbors include the Butler public housing community.

“People came from far away and near to attend, because it was the model school for the African-American community,’’ Sims said.

The debate

The choice for the location of the new VPA/STEM didn’t come easy. Early on, trustees were split on where the showcase programs were to go.

In November 2014, trustees had voted 7-2 to open the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Academy on the site of the former Leonard Sixth Grade Center.

The goal had been to undergo construction and open the STEM Academy in the fall 2015.

Other trustees, including Christene Moss, favored other locations for the STEM Academy, such as Dunbar High School.

At the time, then-Interim Superintendent Pat Linares, had recommended the VPA be located at a district-owned parcel at Farrington Field. Linares was concerned with escalating costs as it appeared at the time that the district had underbudgeted many of its school construction projects, and needed to cut at least $45 million.

The VPA/STEM project is being built with money from the $490 million bond package approved by voters in fall 2013.

Sims’ idea eventually held sway. Last February, trustees voted 8-0 to place both academies at the historic I.M. Terrell building.

In May 2015, the project had further delays. The board was expected to enter into a contract for pre-construction services for the project but Sims yanked the item from the agenda. Sims at the time questioned a proposal toward a $55 million contract to the company run by fellow trustee Matthew Avila. Sims said he had been caught off-guard by the district staff’s recommendation to hire Thos. S. Byrne Construction Services, which is owned by Avila’s father, John. Mathew Avila is the company CEO. Avila had told the board that he would abstain from action to hire Byrne.

Board members a month later rejected the proposal. The district then had to begin the selection process from scratch.

VPA/STEM amenities

New VPA/STEM construction will include a 900-seat auditorium and a kitchen, district officials said. Students from both programs could share the gymnasiums and core classes, such as languages, social studies and health, school officials said. The auditorium will open January 2018.

A single campus director will be in charge of the two showcase schools, but each school will have its own coordinator.

From 300 to 400 students are expected to attend the STEM Academy. About 200 would have an emphasis on mechanical engineering; the rest would be focused on electrical engineering. The programs will include robotics and computer science.

The VPA is planned for about 300 to 400 students. About 45 would have an emphasis in dance, 75 in visual arts, 103 in music and 77 in theater, officials said.

As construction gets under way at Terrell, the school’s current elementary school youngsters are expected to move to the replacement school for Van Zandt-Guinn Elementary. The new Van Zandt-Guinn is expected to open with students January 2017.

The Van Zandt-Guinn project cost is $17.5 million and will be built from the district’s bond package and funds provided by Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 4. “The funds can be used for this purpose in accordance with an agreement between the school district and the city of Fort Worth,” district officials said.

Van Zandt Guinn was originally built as an underground campus.

This story was originally published January 28, 2016 at 2:37 PM with the headline "Work to begin on $55 million renovation of Fort Worth’s historic I.M. Terrell."