Planned Puyallup Junior High expansion will reduce portables, add parent drop-off lane
Ferrucci Junior High is getting more classrooms, a second-floor common area, and a new traffic pattern within the next two years.
The Puyallup School District shared preliminary designs for an estimated $25.7 million project during a virtual neighborhood meeting July 16.
The school’s capacity of 1,000 students will not change, but fewer classrooms will be in portable buildings. Currently, there are 12 portable classrooms. The design proposed by NAC Architecture will add classrooms on the bottom floor near the gym and on the second floor in an annex, leaving four portables.
A total of eight classrooms will be added and two will be replaced. There will be a second-floor common area for students, and the administrative staff will see more space.
Some attendees voiced concern over the current traffic problems. The queue of parents dropping off and picking up students stretches onto Wildwood Park Drive, causing stand-still traffic.
Brian Devereux, the district’s director of facilities planning, said the restructured parking lot should help solve that problem.
“The environment that exists is so tight, so small, that I think it leads to some of that behavior,” he said.
A drop-off area will be added to the north, which is on the far end of the school, creating a queue that builds beside the school and replaces the current bus-loading area, rather than out onto the road, the designs show.
The bus loading area will be rebuilt along the east side of the building, allowing for more parking spaces and a roundabout. There will also be 20 more staff and visitor parking spots for a total of 115 spaces, according to the proposal.
The school district is expected to open a bidding process in February 2021 and begin construction the following month. The project is estimated to be completed by September 2022.
This story was originally published July 20, 2020 at 3:00 AM.
