Board members at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas are to vote on a $60million design for their new school almost a year after a shooting killed 19 children and two teachers.
A Texas architecture firm based in Fort Worth has been working closely with the community for the past seven months with final approval due on Monday night – and it’s set to include enhanced security features such as ballistic glass.
Chris Huckabee, CEO of the architect firm which have donated their professional services explained how the designers wanted to allow time for the community to heal somewhat before giving them the opportunity to help give input in the design for the new building.
‘We felt like it needed to be very deliberate and we needed to take the time the community needed to, to heal through this process,’ he told NBC Dallas.
‘This has been a very tough project and the way we see it, this is part of their collective healing,’ Huckabee said.
The American and Texas state flags fly high over the entrance to the new Uvalde Elementary
Uvalde, Texas school board members are to vote on approving the design of a new campus to replace Robb Elementary School almost one year after the school shooting. Pictured, an interior courtyard
An architecture firm in Fort Worth worked with the community for the past seven months with the final step now requiring the approval of the school board. Pictured, learning stairs
The new school will cost $60 million and include enhanced security features; it is expected to be completed within 18 months. Pictured, academic collaboration space
Chris Huckabee, is CEO of the architect firm which have come up with the designs for the new school, in conjunction with the community
The project, which is expected to be completed in 18 months, will be overseen by the Uvalde Moving Forward Foundation.
The nonprofit organization will own the new school before donating it to the district.
Huckabee’s team has made numerous calls and presentations to secure funding and is still seeking to raise an additional $10 million.
‘What I’m most proud of is that I have not made a call related to building a new school for the Uvalde community that I’ve received a no.
‘Every person that I have called and asked for help has, has said yes, they wholeheartedly have agreed to help,’ he explained.
‘What we’ve done is gone around the state and said, here’s where we are and what we’re doing,’ Huckabee said.
‘We’ve asked communities to step up. Then, the Fort Worth community has humbled me with the amount of money that’s been raised here and in Fort Worth. But Dallas has stepped up substantially, and really all over Texas.
‘But I’ve been very proud of the DFW area and the dollars raised. We need to raise about 10 million more. I do feel like we’ll get there. And my hope is that a few more generous owners will step forward so we can see this to a reality.’
Everything has been chosen by the community including the colors and carpeting. Pictured, the library
An animation was released last week allowed the community to see what the school for second, third, and fourth graders will look like when it is finally built. Pictured, the gymnasium
An exterior view shows what the elementary school looks like from the outside. Pictured, a view of the school’s teaching wing
The new school will include enhanced security features such as ballistic glass and a card access entry system.
‘There’s a lot of ballistic glass in this building. There’s lots of card access and entries and things like that. You can appreciate, there’s been a keen eye on security around this building. And, we do have a security expert that’s been very integral as part of the design to review everything in the building,’ Huckabee said.
‘Everything you would have on a modern building today with cameras, security access, closed vestibules; everything that you would want on a building today is certainly in this building but those things are pretty typical in a modern school today.’
The design also includes a touching tribute to the lives lost in the shooting, with a symbolic tree that has two large branches representing the two teachers who lost their lives and 19 smaller branches representing the young children who were all victims of the May 24, 2022 mass shooting.
The design also includes a touching tribute to the lives lost in the May 2022 shooting. Pictured, the main entrance to the school
Building could commence as soon as July with the school ready to open in January 2025. Pictured, the cafeteria
There will be plenty of enhanced security features including bullet proof glass and key card entry systems. Pictured, one of the school corridors
An animation was released last week allowed the community to see what the school for second, third, and fourth graders will look like when it is finally built.
Huckabee explained how there were also many subtle ways throughout the building that paid tribute to the victims with their families all being consulted along the way.
‘With our team, the goal was to make this the community’s school. This was not about outsiders coming to Uvalde and telling them, what they would get. It would be about taking our time and listening and making sure that the victims’ families, survivors, the community as a whole, and certainly the school district guided the process,’ Huckabee stated.
A memorial is seen surrounding the Robb Elementary School sign following the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School on May 26, 2022 in Uvalde, Texas
Crosses set up to honor those who lost their lives during the Robb Elementary School shooting
19 students and 2 adults were killed in the mass shooting on May 24, 2022
‘There’s a lot of ways in the building that are recognizing the victims in some very subtle ways and, and some not subtle ways through the building that have been guided with agreements of the families.’
Huckabee said the project has been challenging with his team finding it to be the most difficult job they’ve ever done.
Huckabee says the project is a reflection of the community’s needs and desires with the design developed to be the community’s new school while taking into account the heritage and values of Uvalde.
Huckabee hopes the community will embrace the community and that it will become a place where students can feel comfortable and safe.
Once the Uvalde school board votes on the design on Monday night, the project will then go out to tender for bids to before the construction can commence in July.
If all goes to plan, the building will be open to pupils from January 2025.
