Renderings unveiled for Old Fourth Ward’s Howard School redesign

Fresh on the heels of the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s death, Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen has unveiled architect renderings for plans to reimagine the civil rights icon’s alma mater.

“It is only fitting that Atlanta Public Schools is breathing new life into a legacy building and transforming it into a new middle school,” Carstarphen wrote in a blog post.

After a nearly $50 million renovation, the old Howard High School, which closed more than 40 years ago, is expected to become Howard Middle School, replacing the overcrowded Inman Middle School in Virginia-Highland.

The project will be funded by $52 million of Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) monies.

ATLsuper Blog

The next step comes on Monday, when the school board will vote to determine if Parrish Construction Group secures the building management contract, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Per Carstarphen’s post, some of the new features include:

• A network of bio-retention cells across the site to help filter surface runoff and reduce demand on city infrastructure;
• Safe pedestrian and bicycle routes to/from the school from both the Beltline Eastside Trail and Freedom Parkway Trail as well as a substantial amount of bicycle parking on-site;
• New sidewalks and pedestrian walkways are required to be constructed at certain slopes;
• Added parking spaces for staff and visitors, so as not to take up spaces on the street in front of residences, per the blog.

The reimagined school is expected to open in fall 2020.

• First Flames of Freedom in APS [ATLsuper Blog]
• APS unveils new look for MLK’s childhood school [AJC]