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MARCH 2015 \ BUILDING DIALOGUE \

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schools for ECE programs.

BVSD identified the Mapleton school

site as good location to draw its students

from all directions – a potential region-

al ECE center that would serve those kids

in the Mapleton neighborhood and pull

from the district’s outlying areas. Bussing

would have to be part of the plan. RTA was

to execute on the idea.

Superintendent Donald Orr and his

team engaged both RTA and Ford togeth-

er because Ford was already two years into

the project with the original assessments

and the schematic; and RTA was around

8 months into the early childhood assess-

ment districtwide. RTA was also in the pro-

cess of completing the first two ECE addi-

tions to elementary schools after the mill

levy.

The district then considered a hybrid ap-

proach to funding, combining two money

streams – the mill levy override for pre-

school, which could fund initial construc-

tion and ongoing operations, and the city

of Boulder’s excise fund to supplement

construction. This city of Boulder excise tax

is set aside with the agreement between

BVSD and the city to mutually agree on an

educational project to apply it to. Working

with the district, the city of Boulder decid-

ed to help fund the Mapleton project.

By the time the district determined the

money for the project, the community ac-

tually had come around to the different

kind of use for the school – even though

some kids would be bussed in.

Architecture is a profession of persever-

ance. In this case, it also took the perse-

verance of the district and the city to get

consensus from the public. The district,

city and the architects got buy-in from the

neighborhood largely through a thought-

ful, inclusive design advisory team pro-

cess. The DAT team included long-time

residents with no remaining preschoolers,

neighbors with preschoolers, teachers, the

Landmarks Board, Parks and Recreation,

and the city of Boulder’s planning, historic

preservation and traffic departments. By

a seemingly miraculous set of events and

timing, all the players converged.

The district’s project manager, Steve

Schumacher, had to deal with every day-

to-day decision during the restoration and

repurposing. “We had layer upon layer of

paint and plaster that had to be stripped

down to the lath and plaster. It was an un-

believably intensive effort. The entire team

was 100 percent invested, and it shows in

the school we have today. We started with

some pretty high aspirations and those

were very expensive. RTA did a fantastic

job of bringing some very lofty ideas down

to the reality of delivering something we

could pay for, that fulfilled all of our needs

and then some.”

Assistant Superintendent Orr added,

“Nobody took the easy way out. From the

architects to the general contractor, every-

one put his or her heart into this project.”

Orr thinks the number of people –

about 300 – who attended Mapleton’s rib-

bon cutting was a reflection of this level

of care. “The ribbon cutting was attended

by past principals and teachers, people in

the neighborhood who had attended the

school, and three generations of students.

The deep feeling for this school just drew

all kinds of people in. If you didn’t love that

building, you fell in love with it during the

process.”

To date, Mapleton Early Childhood Cen-

ter has received seven awards, including

the City of Boulder Landmarks Board 2014

Historic Preservation Award; CEFPI Rocky

Mountain Chapter’s 2013 Summit Design

Award; Historic Boulder Preservation Ac-

tion’s 2014 Preservation Award; ABC Colora-

do’s 2014 EIC – 1st Place Award in the Histor-

ical Restoration/Renovation Category; and

AIA Denver’s Allied Design Professional

Honor Award.

\\

Photos by Caleb Tkach

FACING PAGE:

The completed Mapleton

Early Childhood Center

TOP:

In the spirit of buildings

that teach - the architects

integrated Fibonacci’s

Golden Section into the tile

floor pattern of the pre-

school’s creativity center.

This ancient geometry, used

in much of sacred art and

architecture, is almost mag-

ical in its ability to create a

pleasing ratio of space.

PROJECT TEAM

OWNER:

Boulder Valley School District

ARCHITECTS:

RTA Architects/Alan Ford

Architects

GENERAL CONTRACTOR:

Adolfson & Peterson

Construction

MECHANICAL:

Beaudine Ganze

STRUCTURAL AND CIVIL

ENGINEERING CONSULTANT:

JVA

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT:

Design Concepts

PROJECT DATA

GRADES:

Pre-K

TOTAL CAPACITY:

180 students

PROJECT SIZE:

New Construction Area

2,500 GSF with 19,500 GSF

Renovation

TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST:

$5 million

COST PER SF:

$227