COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — The oldest operating high school in Colorado Springs will be renovated next year. But before the $100 million project begins, school district 11 asked the community for input.
Organizers I spoke with say they want to "Open the door" so to speak… with the community. They say having public input is crucial to making sure the project is what the community wants.
About 100 community members, alumni, parents and students weighed in on plans to preserve Palmer High School on Monday night.
As discussions in small groups were shared, the need for upgrades seemed to be something everyone agreed on.
"[The school] needs to have a better cafeteria, it's not big enough for the kids who are here, it definitely needs to have the auditorium fixed," said former and future parent, AnneMichelle Johnson.
Many agreed it's important to preserve the charm here, involve more alumni and keep lasting traditions, like "ringing the bell."
That's especially true for Johnson, who had two kids graduate from palmer with one more to go.
"I want [my daughter] to be able to know what her brothers talked about when they went here, are traditions that she would be able to follow in their footsteps."
Those Lindsey Jensen spoke with, felt like this kind of communication is long overdue.
"I really wish the discussions happened a little bit earlier in the process," said Johnson.
"There has been little, in my humble opinion, little opportunity for input prior to this so this is so good," said former teacher, Karen Crosson.
Construction is set to begin in June of 2025.
Some people raised concerns about having public meetings without a concrete design plan.
The architect and design team explained they wanted to hear from the community first, "we are trying to get all the variables collected."
The district is planning another community input meeting in early October. In the meantime, you can give your thoughts on the D11 website.
Meet Connor Strange, Palmer High School's student body President. He's taking an active role in the renovation. He tells me it's important that his fellow student's voices be heard. One big problem he noticed and wants fixed – hot classrooms. He says some don't have air conditioning.
"The beginning of the school year or the end of the school year it usually gets pretty hot. It makes class kind of miserable sometimes but you know the teachers definitely do their best to make make the best of kind of a crappy situation."
Jake Walker also talked with Jessica Wise, the spokeswoman at D11. She tells me this is the first of many community meetings the school is planning.
"The design team hired a few student workers who are going to be student ambassadors. They will be helping lead the community engagement so we really want this to feel very tethered to the community."
D11 says they are planning on starting the renovation in the fall of next year. We'll keep our eye on this project and will give you the very latest as it develops.
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