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The Portland Design Commission got its first look Thursday at plans for replacing Ida B. Wells High School with a new, four-story building.

The approximately 320,000-square-foot building is a large portion of modernization in the works for the 35-acre site, at 1151 S.W. Vermont St., in the Hillside Plan District.

The existing Rieke Elementary School buildings and a swimming pool operated by Portland Parks & Recreation will remain on the site. Redevelopment of the site will include pedestrian/bicyclist pathways, parking areas, a track and field with a grandstand and supporting buildings, baseball and softball fields with associated site structures, and a building to serve the public pool. It will also accommodate a child care center and a health clinic.

Bora Architecture & Interiors designed the project for Portland Public Schools.

The existing high school building will remain open while the new one is being constructed. The new building’s main entrance will face Vermont Street. There will be hardscape in front and a sloped, grassy area connecting to the sidewalk.

A modification is required for the building to be set back more than 10 feet back from Vermont Street, as well as from Burlingame Avenue on the north side. The commissioners agreed that the proposed setbacks make sense for the site.

Another potential modification would allow more than 50 percent of the site’s frontage adjacent to Burlingame Avenue to accommodate motor vehicles.

Plans call for orienting the building in the east-west direction, Bora Architecture & Interiors project designer Amelie Reynaud said, adding that this allows for maximum daylighting and minimizes western sun exposure to reduce building energy consumption.

Classrooms and instructional spaces would be in the four-story east/west bars. An athletics wing would have two gyms. Performing arts would be in the southeast wing.

Part of the design’s intent is to provide one clear entrance on Vermont Street. The current high school has an entrance at the north end and another at the south end. Commissioner Tina Bue said she understands the decision to place the main entrance at Vermont Street but wonders how it would impact traffic and congestion in the area.

The southeast parking area would have some staff and visitor parking. The north parking lot would be for students. A road looping the site would connect the two parking lots.

The site’s south end would have a main entry plaza with a covered porch. The design team is looking at options for sloped pathways throughout the site. Pathways are planned between the track and field and the school, up to the front porch or down to the sidewalk. Commission Chairman Brian McCarter said some of the pathways look narrow, like residential sidewalks. Multiuse paths should be wide enough for both pedestrians and bicyclists to share, he said. An outdoor courtyard with a planted garden is planned for the site’s east side. Bue asked for the team to show more plans for landscaping during the next design advice hearing.

The project is valued at $350 million, according to Portland Permitting & Development.

The design team plans to return before the Design Commission for a second design advice hearing in February or March 2025, and for design review and conditional use in June or July 2025.