SPS buys properties to expand Reed Academy site

As crews work to dismantle the century-old Reed Academy, Springfield Public Schools is making progress on the plan to replace it with the purchase of four parcels of land to the north of the existing school property.

The main entrance to the new building at 2000 N. Lyon Ave. faces west, with North Campbell Avenue at the back of the school. The SPS Board of Education’s approval in executive session earlier this fall of the purchase of four houses to the north of the site will expand the footprint of the grounds.

Three purchases have been finalized; they are at 2037 N. Campbell Ave. for $230,000, 2041 N. Campbell Ave for $164,500 and 2037 N. Lyon Ave. for $125,000. The purchase price of the fourth home, at 2041 N. Lyon Ave., will be disclosed after its closing on Oct. 31.

Travis Shaw, SPS deputy superintendent of operations, said an undisclosed real estate agent approached the homeowners on behalf of SPS and said there was an interested buyer. The district obtained fair market value pricing for all of the properties, he said.

The Lyon Avenue homes are on the west side of the road, Shaw said, and the district already owns the property across from them on the east side. The purchase of the properties on Campbell allow the school’s parcel to be squared off with the north boundary now expanded.

Shaw said the city requires a certain number of parking spaces based on the seating capacity of the largest space within the building, which for the new Reed Academy will be the gymnasium, sized large enough for 725 students plus staff. The property purchase will allow for an expanded parking lot, planned for the west side of Lyon, according to a presentation by Sapp Design Associates Architects Inc. at the Aug. 22 school board meeting.

Shaw said the building that is now being demolished had grandfathered parking requirements that were not subject to the city rule.

“As you can probably imagine, there was not anywhere near the space needed for all the cars,” he said. “Anytime we do new builds, we have to meet those requirements.”

Sapp Design partner Kristi Beattie explained to the board in August that car lines will be accommodated in a plaza on the property of the new Reed Academy, rather than on the street. Some 73 cars can be accommodated, she said.

“It’s a very compact site, but we’ve been able to work to get the parent pickup and drop-off off of the street,” she said. “They’re on-site now.”

The purchase of ground to the north will also make it easier to meet what Shaw called challenging specs around water detention at the site.

Sapp Design plans show the new school at approximately 128,900 square feet. Proposition S, the bond issue passed by 78% of Springfield voters in April, budgets $59.5 million for Reed Academy. Sapp Design’s construction estimate, including building costs, site development and 3% escalation, but not demolition, puts the cost at an estimated $45.4 million.

The design of the new building, called the Reed Academy for Fine and Performing Arts, is approximately 40,000 square feet larger than the old one.

Demolition of the old middle school, built in 1921 as Reed Junior High, began in the first week of October and is scheduled over 60 days, Shaw said.

He added construction documents are to be completed in time for the project to go to bid in December or January. A traditional design-bid-build process is being used, and he said the lowest responsible bidder should be ready for board consideration by February. Construction will start immediately after a general contractor is approved, he said.

The district aims to finish the project by January 2026, he said.

For now, Reed Academy is housed in the former Jarrett Middle School building at 840 S. Jefferson Ave. Shaw said a Reed Academy sign stands out front, and much of the Jarrett color scheme has been changed.

“We’ve covered up a lot of the green,” he said.