GRADY HIGH SCHOOL RENOVATION

The Grady High School renovation project is initiated by and managed to completion by the APS Facilities Department.  Architecture firms, building construction consultants and engineers are hired to advise APS Facilities throughout the project.  Unlike other building projects in the City of Atlanta, APS projects are not required to be reviewed by the Office of Zoning and Development.  Therefore, the typical process of NPU review and hearings at BZA / ZRB do not take place.  APS assigns an internal project team and they seek feedback from a committee of stakeholders.

Until January 2020, the project manager was Alvah Hardy, APS Facilities Director.  Sadly, Mr. Hardy passed away unexpectedly in an auto accident on January 11, 2020.  MNA expressed our immediate condolences to the APS project team and awaited new leadership to reconnect on the project.

NPU-E (the Neighborhood Planning Unit for Midtown) was invited to this task force to provide community feedback.  Unfortunately, the invitation was not shared directly with Midtown Neighbors’ Association and our organization was unaware of the meetings and opportunity to participate in the early design phases.  MNA became aware of this miscommunication and immediately rectified our inclusion in all meetings going forward.  In addition to NPU-E leadership, MNA and APS now agree that we will be a line of direct communication for any Grady Cluster meetings and initiatives.  MNA attended the APS Grady Renovation Design Team – Meeting 4 – on December 12, 2019.  This was the final design meeting.

The project design phase began in late 2018 / early 2019.  A design task force was assembled to work together to find a solution that was suitable to the students, administration, the community and the financing budget.  Cooper Carry Architects was hired by APS to design the initial renderings.

The APS Schematic Design Narrative was published in May 2019 and resulted from three design meetings with stakeholders and collaborative work between Cooper Carry and APS Facilities.  It is a detailed overview of the site plan analysis and design intentions. The APS Schematic Design Narrative does not necessarily reflect the final design plans.

During the design phase, the narrative is used as a guideline while specific architectural and engineering plans are developed.  Since the design team can encounter previously unknown limitations, the design narrative can differ from final design plans.  Community meetings and stakeholder feedback can also adjust the narrative intentions and result in differing final renderings.  For instance, the design narrative initially called for expanded parking capacity on the western lawn along Charles Allen Drive.  This area has since been reduced in response to community feedback.  View the final renderings for the project here – last updated in December 2019.

NEW ADDITION SPACE:

Ten (10) Additional Core Classrooms – minimum square footage 750sf each – bringing capacity of school to 1500 students with anticipated 2019/2020 enrollment to be 1431

76 new parking spaces in existing gravel lot and 19 spaces in u-shaped drive along western lawn bringing the school’s total parking capacity to 269 spaces;

CTAE space for Engineering and Technology – minimum square footage 2990 sf

CTAE space for Business, Management, Administration – minimum square footage 1310 sf

CTAE space for Fashion Marketing – minimum square footage 1385 sf

CTAE space for Sports + Entertainment Marketing – minimum square footage 1385sf

Additional Administration space is required for counseling and / or administration

Additional student support spaces, commons areas, and a school store

Media Center large enough to serve proposed student capacity – minimum square footage 5700 sf

Two (2) Additional Science Labs – minimum square footage 1000 sf each

Improved ADA accessibility with ADA parking spaces in u-shaped drive along Charles Allen Drive and ADA compatible entry through front entrance

Strengthened security controls through the creation of more formalized front entrance along Charles Allen Drive with controlled ingress/egress during school hours

CONVERSION / RENOVATION OF EXISTING SPACE:

The existing media center and information technology lab in the ground floor of the 8th Street Building will be renovated and reconfigured. Work will include:

Expansion of the existing cafeteria

CTAE space for Information Technology Lab – minimum square footage 1310 sf

Lecture Hall type space for large classes and testing

Existing Graphic Design and Print space will be used as an art classroom.

Current project projections are from September 2019 to August 2021.

Parrish Construction Group will be building the Grady expansion project.  Barry Tucker is the Parrish Superintendent for this project.  You can reach him at btucker@parrishconstruction.com.  He also makes himself available by phone at 478-256-6855.

Parrish Construction Group has divided the project into six phases or “sequences.”  These sequences are designed with the community and student population in mind – minimizing school year impact and maximizing activity during summer months.  You can review the detail phasing in Grady Construction Phasing Plan last updated in December 2019.

The project plan requires trees to be removed for (1) the placement of the temporary trailers, (2) the footprint of the new building, and (3) the newly planned u-shaped drive which enters and exits on Charles Allen Drive through existing curb cuts.  The APS project team is removing the trees in phases, as needed.  The trees you see marked as of February 2020 are the last trees to be removed for the project to be completed.

All the pines that align Charles Allen Drive will remain.  New trees are being planted.  Review details on the project landscape plan which includes a detailed plant schedule.

MNA has reviewed the plans for the building and asked that trees be moved rather than removed.  APS was able to move one oak on the western lawn.  The tree is healthy and thriving to date.  Based on the design plans, the remaining trees to be removed must be removed to accommodate the project. Interested in more detail on this?  You can review a detailed tree impact plan to see a full inventory of removed and preserved tree canopy.

If you have concerns about the removal of a particular tree from this property, please direct those concerns to Danny Gutlay, APS Communications Manager or the City of Atlanta Arborist, Paul Lewkowicz.

No.  While all other areas of the Grady High School campus will remain open during construction, the fenced area from the NW corner on 10th Street to the SW corner at 8th Street along Charles Allen Drive will be inaccessible at varying times.  Please take note of safety fencing and adhere to all posted signs for access.

As Grady’s surrounding community, we want to celebrate this major enhancement with them once it is complete.  Please stay tuned for details on an evening tour of the new facility hosted in partnership by APS and Midtown Neighbors’ Association.  You won’t want to miss this opportunity to experience the redesigned Grady lawn, the new library facility and top floor terrace overlooking Piedmont Park.  It will be special evening of community connection.

Excepting any unforeseen circumstances, the project team has not indicated the closure of any vehicular lanes of traffic to accommodate the project.  Should it be required, MNA will be notified and we will post the notice to members and on our Instagram and Facebook page.  If you aren’t already a member, join and support MNA to ensure communication about this and other important Midtown topics.

Construction for this project may take place between 7 AM – 7 PM on weekdays and 9 AM – 7 PM on weekends.  Any noise outside of this time frame can only take place with a noise variance issued by the City of Atlanta Department of Planning. Review the extended noise ordinance for construction projects here.

Want to report operations outside of the legally allowable time frame?  Please call 911.  APD Zone 6 will send a patrol unit to investigate and also confirm the possible existence of a noise variance.  Please also email our Livability Chairman so we may follow up and ensure this is not a repeated activity.

If you normally vote at Grady High School, your polling location has changed.  Please visit the Fulton County Election website to confirm your polling location.  Alternatively, you can also find this information my using the GA My Voter page.  Polling locations can change up to the opening of polls on election day, so it is always a good habit to double check before you head out to vote.

Fulton County Election Page:

https://www.fultoncountyga.gov/inside-fulton-county/fulton-county-departments/registration-and-elections

GA My Voter Page:

https://www.mvp.sos.ga.gov/MVP/mvp.do

Please contact Danny Gutlay, APS Project Manager and Barry Tucker, Parrish Superintendent for this project immediately.