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Members of the Portland Historic Landmarks Commission on Monday generally favored the latest proposal to modernize the Jefferson High School campus in the Piedmont Conservation District. Plans call for demolishing the original 115-year-old building and constructing an approximately 320,000-square-foot new one at 5210 N. Kerby Ave.

Monday marked the sixth design advice hearing before the commission for the school modernization project but the second and final look at reconstruction plans. The project team plans to request a type II historic resource review in late February 2025.

Portland Public Schools is the project owner. The team also includes LEVER Architecture, Bora Architecture & Interiors, Colloqate Design, PLACE, and general contractor Andersen Construction.

The new building is designed to accommodate an average student capacity of 1,700 students. As a middle college focus school, it will hold space to support dance and theater programs, as well as expanded community partner programs.

On Monday, the commission discussed locations of entries, the building鈥檚 character along North Killingsworth Street, and building materials. According to city staff, modifications to the transit street main entrance (on Killingsworth Street), maximum setback, ground-floor windows, and entrance standards may be requested.

The building fa莽ade will be articulated with punched windows on the upper floors and storefront windows on the lower floors, LEVER Architecture principal Chandra Robinson said. The Killingsworth Street frontage will be occupied by visual and performing arts programs.

Two of the three main building entrances will be located on the site鈥檚 west side and face North Kerby Avenue. The third entrance will be on the south side and face the proposed cross-block pathway. No entrances are planned to face Killingsworth Street because of traffic congestion and security concerns, the project team said.

鈥淜erby is going to become a big thoroughfare for the students,鈥� LEVER Architecture principal Doug Sheets said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 how you access the crosswalk, the main entry, ties into the parking, access to the athletic fields.鈥�

The design team is developing fields on the south side of Alberta Street. Access to that area will be from Kerby Avenue, Sheets said.

Kerby Avenue will have plantings and benches, Sheets said, while Killingsworth Street will have a planter as people walk along that side of the building.

Commission Chair Andrew Smith said the biggest thing he was struggling with was the lack of an arts entry on Killingsworth Street. But according to a city staff report, the current proposal appears to introduce the concept of unified landscaping and 鈥渟tory landmarks鈥� on both Killingsworth Street and Kerby Avenue able to direct people to the main entrance on Kerby Avenue. However, staffers still believe that if an entrance does not face Killingsworth Street, then there should at least be one at the corner of Killingsworth Street and Kerby Avenue to best meet the approval criteria.

The school鈥檚 media center, anticipated as one of the most active spaces, is planned for the corner of Killingsworth Street and Kerby Avenue. Community members will be able to reserve access to center resources between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on school days. Because the center will be on the corner, there will be more glazing opportunities.

Planned building materials include a combination of regular and angular brick as well as flat and folded metal panels.

Commissioner Peggy Moretti asked about the durability of the metal panels. Sheets said both design firms have had a lot of success using sheet metal. The base will be brick throughout the building. The flat metal will be an aluminum composite that stays very flat and stiff, Robinson said.

The design team plans to look at more contrast between the colors of the brick and metal panels, possibly with a reddish orange color for the brick and a darker color for the metal panels. Also, a timber structure is being considered.

School colors may be expressed via blue doors on the exterior. The team plans to use blue and yellow colors on the interior.