91视频

A four-story, 44,000-square-foot office building in South Portland will soon be renovated to suit a public Waldorf charter school serving children in grades K-8.

Portland Village School is preparing to relocate from its 29,000-square-foot space at 7654 N. Delaware Ave. to the larger one at 4650 S. Macadam Ave. The school purchased the building from Precision Castparts Corp. in September for $7 million.

Trinity Academy, a private Christian school for grades 6-12, owns the Delaware Avenue property and decided to move into the building to accommodate expansion. That led Portland Village School officials to seek a different property it could own.

鈥淚n this process, finding a building that鈥檚 zoned for K-8 education is really tricky,鈥� Portland Village School Executive Director Jenni Stackhouse said.

The building chosen was the only one available within Portland Public Schools boundaries able to accommodate the school, Stackhouse said. The tuition-free school caps enrollment at 444 students and uses two classrooms per grade.

The project team includes architect Connect Architecture; civil engineer VLMK Engineering + Design; structural engineer Froelich Engineers; structural engineer Degenkolb Engineers (nonlinear seismic analysis only); landscape architect Otten & Associates; construction manager/general contractor Fulcrum Construction; and project manager 360 Project Management Corp.

A $5 million building permit for the project is under review. Work will include a seismic upgrade as well as construction of restrooms, walls, doors, interior windows, finishes and more.

鈥淲aldorf education is tied to nature; light is really important,鈥� Stackhouse said of the design.

Floors one, two and three will hold classrooms for students, Stackhouse said. The first floor will have kindergarten rooms and a large multipurpose space. The second floor will have rooms for grades 1-4 and administrative offices. The third floor will have rooms for grades 5-8, library space and some counseling spaces. Half of the fourth floor will have a suite for special education. The other half will be leased to a yet-to-be-determined 501(c)(3) organization, to help the school pay for expenses.

One of the tenets of Waldorf education is that classrooms should be beautiful so that students want to learn, Stackhouse said. Classrooms鈥� walls will be painted with a watercolor effect. Each grade will be a different color, such as red for first grade and orange for second grade. Classrooms also will have windows to let in natural light, plants, and homemade wooden furniture.

Amenities will include single-user restrooms, an auxiliary room for painting projects and other arts and crafts, an acoustically soundproof music room, spaces for small group meetings, and spaces for staff to meet with students.

There will be both below-grade and above-grade parking.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a dream come true for our school to have a forever home where we can spend our equity on ourselves rather than giving our money away to a landlord,鈥� Stackhouse said.

A lot of Waldorf school instruction takes place outside, and Portland Village School classes will utilize the nature trail along the Willamette River, Stackhouse said. Students will also spend time at nearby parks, including Cottonwood Bay Park, which is approximately a two-minute walk from the school.

The project team has received initial approval from the Oregon Facilities Authority to issue a $20.4 million bond to pay for the renovation. The school hopes to do so in late February or early March.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been working closely on some (value) engineering for the project so we can keep those costs as low as possible,鈥� Stackhouse said.

Construction is expected to begin in March and finish in August, in time to accommodate the start of the 2024-2025 school year.