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.
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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