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The Portland Design Commission on Thursday got a second look at plans to replace Ida B. Wells-Barnett High School with an approximately 291,000-square-foot building on the site’s south side.

The new building is planned as part of an effort to modernize the campus, at 1151 S.W. Vermont St.

The project was first presented to the Design Commission in September 2024. The biggest change from then is that the track-and-field element, previously oriented north to south, is now proposed to remain where it is due to budget constraints.

The project is valued at $349 million, according to Portland Permitting & Development. Bora Architecture & Interiors designed the project for Portland Public Schools. The project team also includes KPFF (civil and structural engineering), Rivero Design (civil engineering), NBZ Consulting Engineers (structural engineering), and Walker Macy (landscape architecture).

The existing school will remain operational during construction, because it sits upon a hill away from the buildable area.

The new school will include a theater, band and choir rooms, a cafeteria and commons, and a media center as well as classrooms and science labs, art rooms, shop spaces, a variety of specialized learning environments and administrative offices. A community health clinic may be included in the project if a service provider can be identified, the applicant’s narrative states.

Planned site improvements include a new track and field with grandstand and support buildings, new baseball, softball and soccer fields with associated site structures, new tennis courts, reconfigured parking areas, and new pedestrian pathways. The existing swimming pool, run by Portland Parks & Recreation, will remain. Facilities associated with Rieke Elementary School will also remain.

The main entrance would be on the building’s east side. Another entrance on the south side would lead to a potential health clinic. Commissioner Thomas Eldridge said the main entry does not strike him as such. Commissioners suggested adding more signage to indicate the main entry.

The site plan is extremely constrained in creating a direct north-south link by the existing locations of the track and field and pool, which push the north-south connection significantly eastward. A north-south path is thus proposed east of the pool, the city staff report states.

鈥淭he north-south connection is a really important connector,鈥� said Tanya Paglia, a city planner for Portland Permitting & Development.

Commissioners agreed that the path should be wide. They asked the team to provide more details at the next design advice request (DAR) hearing.

Building materials and composition are still being decided, but thin brick tile in an alternating pattern is being considered as the primary cladding. Commissioners agreed that the color of the brick may be too dark, acknowledging that the shade is popular right now but may not be in the future.

鈥淚 think the kind of pathway through the building from the entry to the commons is so beautiful with the use of wood on the inside,鈥� Commissioner Sarah Vaz said. 鈥淚 love the general concept of having bark on the outside, wood on the inside. It’s just not feeling very bark-like right now.鈥�

Vaz suggested the project team work with the school’s design advisory group and community members to determine the color of the brick, if the team hasn’t already.

Commissioner Zari Santner asked the project team to address bus and parent drop-off locations, including near the grandstand, before the next DAR hearing.

A third DAR hearing will take place on Feb. 19, 2026. The project will require a Type III conditional use review and a Type III design review. The design team plans to submit a design review application in March.