By Rebecca Huff, Education Reporter
The wait is over. The Loveland Board of Education approved the facility master plan at the board business meeting on April 16.
The plan will include the creation of a pre-K through 5th grade campus, renovations and repairs to the Loveland High School, Loveland Intermediate School and the Loveland Middle School.
The new pre- K through 5th grade campus will comprise of three constructed elementary school buildings: a prekindergarten-kindergarten school, a 1st and 2nd grade school and a 3rd through 5th grade school. Graillville, with110 acres of land situated off O’Bannonville Road, could potentially house the school grounds.
“It’s going to be great for the community, it’s going to be great for the students, great for the staff and teachers,” said Art Jarvis, president for Loveland City Schools’ Board of Education.
The next step is to put a board approved price tag on the project, which the May work session will address.
The November ballot will include a bond issue, but Jarvis wants to keep the community involved and knowledgeable about the inner workings of the facility master plan.
“We have to have numbers by June or July not only to get on the ballot but also to go to the community and get feedback about all this,” he said.
Jarvis explained how imperative it is for the bond levy to pass in November.
“[Grailville] is 110 acres and frankly at this moment in time there’s not another piece of property in the Loveland school district that size, so if we don’t pass the bond levy we don’t get that property then that changes everything because we can’t put three schools anywhere else,” he said. “But, I have pretty high confidence that the community’s going to get behind it.”
Once the financial review is complete, and if the bond issue passes, Emersion Design and the school board will begin to prioritize projects to complete first.
Emersion Design is an architecture firm based in Cincinnati with a mission to “advance clients that advance society.” Boron said learning is just one of the markets that Emersion Design serves. The company was selected to lead the facility master plan in the Spring of 2018.
Christie Boron, principal at Emersion Design, estimated completion of some of the buildings in the next three to four years.
“Sometime in 2022 to 2023 is when we would expect our first buildings to come online,” she said. All of this remains contingent on the ballot measure passing.
The next board business meeting will be held on May 21 at 6 p.m. at the Loveland Middle School Media Center. The board work session will be May 7 at 6 p.m. at the Board of Education Administrative Offices. During this meeting, the board and Emersion Design will begin to review the finances of the master plan.
“I want to thank everyone who has been involved in the master planning process up to this point,” Jarvis concluded at the board meeting. “I appreciate the dedication and passion of our community members, including district parents, students, teachers, staff and the many others who have made invaluable contributions along the way.”
Last Updated on May 29, 2020 by Joe Wessels