Friday, September 04, 2009

Woodson High School to Start Construction, Seek Bidders


Washington DC government officials today opened bids for construction of the $100 million effort to rebuild H.D. Woodson High School. HESS began demolition almost of the post-apocalyptic structure, circa 1973, one year ago. The new High School will be the only one in the District's 7th Ward.

DC Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization (OPEFM) and HESS Construction + Engineering Services will hold a pre-bid conference on Wednesday, September 9th from 10 AM until 12 PM for Division Two Trade Contractors (Site Work, Utility, Excavation), and have issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ). The conference will be held at The Riverside Center at 5500 Foote Street, NE.

In a press release, OPEFM said they, along with HESS, are "aggressively seeking" "Certified Business Enterprises," especially those in Ward 7, as construction on the new H.D. Woodson High School gets underway, for at least 50 percent of the project’s costs.

In a June press release DC Mayor Adrian Fenty's office said the new Woodson, located at 5500 Eads Street, N.E., will also be among the D.C. Public School system’s most environmentally sensitive facility as it seeks the highest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for “green” building development. The new school is designed by Cox Grae and Spack Architects and SHW Group.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you absolutely sure this is a school and not the cell block of a prison? My god, I would feel ashamed to be seen walking into that.

Anonymous said...

The calamity of late 1960s and 1970s architecture I supposed was the unfortunate consequence of earlier modernist arrogance. Throw all previous building experience/knowledge (and humanism) out the window to make an ego statement, and you have an entire industry that completely lost its way.

Wow, that new building is one hell of an improvement, and yes, actually looks like a school!

Que said...

The building in that rendering looks kind of small to replace the old building.

Is Woodson similar to Dunbar on the inside with the 3 or 4 sub basements, parking lot and 9 above ground floors plus gym and pool

Que said...

The rendering also looks horrible for people with walking disabilities.

Why the hell isn't the entrance on ground level a person in a wheelchair would have to go all the way around the steps and wall that is damn ridiculousness.

Anonymous said...

Anything on how they're configuring the grounds for sports fields etc.? Isn't the new building being built on the old football field?

Anonymous said...

The old Woodson "tower" is more like a prison cell block than this new design. However, I heard that there were more windows in the first design, but they got reduced because of the budget.

Anonymous said...

The Warriors loved the Tower of Power. If the alumi had its way the new school would be a replica of the old one.

Anonymous said...

The old school did not have sub basements or parking garages. There was a basement. The ground floor held the pool, gym, cafateria, auditorium,classrooms, etc. Above it was the Plaza; main office, attendance office, school bank. Then there were 7 stories above that and a greeenhouse on the roof.

The tennis court was between the stadium and the parking lot. There was only one court but you needed three to host a tennis match. So Woodson never hosted a home tennis match in 36 years.

Anonymous said...

Where is the access to the "teaching green roof"? Why are there so many stairs? Where is the efficiency in this design? I liked the original plan by Chet, about 3 versions ago. Too bad nobody was not allowed a real conversation with Lew to really pick his brain. I suppose you just have to guess.

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