The latest version of design plans for Duluth's new eastern high school takes eminent domain off the table, eliminates a controversial access road and scales back plans for a stadium.
The changes are in response to opposition voiced by Ordean Middle School neighbors after the last schematic design for converting it to a high school was released a couple of weeks ago.
"This process has always been about trying to listen to the community and meet most of their needs and yet meet ours at the same time," said Duluth Superintendent Keith Dixon. "What you see here is our latest plan on how to attempt to do that."
The new design strips one athletic field and some parking off the site plan, which eliminates the need to acquire property through eminent domain. Owners of several properties originally eyed for acquisition by the district had expressed concern about giving over their homes for the plan. If approved, this latest design could be accomplished without those plots, though two new parcels -- both of which are owned by parties willing to work with the district - would be used.
The plan also reduces the number of access roads into the campus from three to two. Jefferson Road had been plotted as the third access road -- along with Superior Street and 40th Avenue -- but traffic and safety concerns expressed by neighbors led architects to keep it out of the latest design.
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Talk about building a stadium similar to Public Schools Stadium located on the Denfeld site has also been scaled back. The most recent concept calls for an artificial-turf, multi-purpose field complete with an eight-lane track around a football/soccer field that would use the school's existing bleachers to house about 1,500 fans, according to Kerry Leider, facilities director for the Duluth school district. Public Schools Stadium holds about 3,000 people.
The other major distinction between the latest schematic design and earlier versions is the amount of parking incorporated on the site. One version included as many as 600 parking spots while this version provides about 350, a number much closer to what will be provided at Denfeld High School.
Parking, eminent domain, a stadium and the use of Jefferson Road were all named as key concerns by a group of Ordean neighbors that organized in opposition to earlier plans for the site.
"They have addressed several of our concerns in this plan, not all of them but several," said Tom Kasper, a member of the Ordean group. "It's encouraging that we're finally talking through some of this stuff."
Community members are still concerned about the overall impact the high school will have on traffic in and around the Ordean neighborhood. Some adamantly feel the site is simply too small, regardless of compromises the district might make on some site features.
"My position remains that this is the wrong place for a high school. It's better designed but I still think it's too small," said Brian Ronstrom, another member of the Ordean neighbor group.
Group members will discuss their position on the latest schematic design when they meet Wednesday night.
This latest design is far from set in stone. District officials will need to convince the Minnesota Department of Education -- which earlier told Duluth it needed to buy up more property around Ordean -- that it can adequately serve students by using space and facilities located around town, such as the Heritage Hockey Center, as opposed to housing all of the amenities of a modern high school on site. The district is also waiting for results of a traffic analysis.
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Final schematic designs for the Ordean site are expected to be finalized sometime this spring.
