New Bellaire High School Closer To Construction Phase Beginning

BELLAIRE, TX — The path to a new Bellaire High School took another big step when the Bellaire City Council approved an updated site plan and traffic study for the new school. The council also granted a permit for the property, which means construction on the new Home of the Cardinals could begin in the Summer of 2018.

A newly-built high school to replace the current one is part of the Houston ISD’s voter-approved 2012 Bond Program. The approval of the specific-use permit by the city clears the final hurdle in the design process for Bellaire’s newest digs.

“After all the work we’ve put into this project to build consensus amongst all of our stakeholders, we are thrilled to finally get the green light from the City of Bellaire and begin moving forward,” Bellaire Principal Michael McDonough said. “This is a huge step forward for our students, our school, and our community.”

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Forty schools in HISD will be rebuilt in part of the 2012 Bond Program, including 29 high schools. Updated site plans for the $137 million project allow the district to maximize space on the 18-acre campus by relocating baseball and softball practice fields to a site about two miles away. This allows architects more space to work with and the capability of designing a building that better meets the needs of students, neighbors and traffic flow, and it moves all parking onto the campus.

With the passing of the updated site plan and traffic study, the schematic design for the proposed 425,000 square-foot complex has started. Construction will take approximately 30 months and will be completed in phases. Construction is projected to end by the end of 2020, and students are expected to start roaming the halls of their new high school in early 2021.

Once building is complete and students and furniture are moved in, the old building will be torn down and the parking garage and new athletic fields will start a 12-month construction period.

The new athletic fields include practice baseball and softball fields, which are being relocated to 6300 Avenue B in Bellaire, an HISD site previously home to Gordon Elementary and Mandarin Immersion Magnet schools. The city also approved a specific-use permit for this site.

The Avenue B location currently is being used by Kolter Elementary School, which has been temporarily relocated due to flooding from Hurricane Harvey. Project officials said they do not expect the temporary relocation to impact the construction timeline because work is not expected to start at the site until next summer.

A Bellaire community meeting will be held in the coming months to brief school stakeholders on the updated design plans.

Images courtesy of Houston Independent School District