October 4, 2018

Career Center Working GroupFinal Report

Career Center Working Group Charge

June 2017, School Board adopted plan for 700-800 HS seats on the Career Center site. The CCWG was asked to:

• Plan to define how APS opens seats at CC by 2022• Analyze, evaluate, and plan how to optimize Career Center site and how

to accommodate a fourth HS• Determine long-term plan for Columbia Pike Library• Identify needed facilities, transportation and parking goals• Develop phased plan for development

Joint project of Arlington County and APS

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Process and Timeline• 34 stakeholders• 8 months (Jan-Aug 2018)• 18 meetings

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Study Area

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Meeting the Charge

• Items impacting CCWG conversations and recommendations:• Revised High School Projections• Available Funding and Timing for the Phased Development Plan• Maximum (Long-Term) Capacity for High School Seats at the Career

Center Site• Distinction between APS Neighborhood High Schools VS Secondary

Option Programs• Access to Sports Facilities

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Overall Vision for the Career Center Site

• Create the “Jewel of the Pike”• Improve upon available amenities• Contribute to place-making on Columbia Pike• Create a building exterior to equal the excellent education offered within

• Near-Term (CIP FY2019-2028)• Add 800 students while retaining existing CC programs, including Arlington Tech

expansion, Arlington Community High School, Montessori program and Columbia Pike Library

• Long-Term (beyond 2028)• Site should become a high school campus• Until most facilities delivered, high school seats should remain Option seats• Additional site density possible subject to on-site facilities & parking

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Areas of Consensus

• Site Facilities• Open Space• Building Design• Sustainability• Massing and Density• Site Phasing• Parking, Transportation and Transportation Demand

Management (TDM)• Public Library and South Block

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Recommendations

• Site Facilities• Build for maximum future adaptability and growth, including common spaces• All Arlington students deserve quality indoor and outdoor spaces• With additional facilities built, most after-school sports and club activities may be

accommodated• APS facilities designed to allow maximum use by the community• Underground structures designed to allow for re-orientation of future fields

• Open Space• Existing uses of sports facilities throughout the County must be revisited to ensure

students have opportunities to play sports• Informal and passive open space should be included, in addition to sports fields• Exterior lighting designed to minimize light pollution/spillover into neighborhood

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Recommendations

• Building Design• Emphasize glass and natural light• Build with Universal Design in mind• Consider need for future expansion and flexibility• Locate high-bay CTE spaces partially below grade• Ensure any onsite parking is underground and adaptable to future educational uses• Maximize use of the roofs for school and/or environmental uses (gardens, useable green roofs, solar

panels)

• Sustainability• Emphasis on energy conservation and sustainability through architecture design, materials and

construction methods• Renewable energy strategically considered by BLPC/PFRC for both near-term and long-term

phases as vision is incrementally achieved

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Recommendations

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• Massing and Density• S. Highland Street

setback to reflect residential setbacks to create cohesive character

• Buildings should transition up from proximity to homes

Recommendations

• Site Phasing (Near-Term)• Majority of facilities identified in FY2019-28 CIP • Build any underground parking with multi-use

field at grade• Relocate CTE spaces to new S. Highland

building• Build 3rd story on top of existing Career Center

building• Create multi-level education space along 9th

and S. Walter Reed, including common spaces• Build as large as possible now, even if some

floors are roughed out for future use

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Recommendations

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• Site Phasing (Long-Term)

• Complete roughed-out areas for educational spaces

• Relocate Montessori program to another site

• Raze Patrick Henry building to expand sports facilities and green space

• Build a pool for education and community uses

Recommendations

• Parking, Transportation and TDM• Provide assessment of parking needs for a neighborhood and option

school at this site• Study whether a robust TDM program could reduce overall parking

needs• Inform a parking program to include a balance of on-site and off-site

parking• Consider costs, site constraints and neighborhood concerns • Any further lease or an acquisition of ECDC parking garage should be

informed by structural assessment

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Recommendations

• Public Library and South Block• County should acquire the South Block properties willing to sell• Relocate Columbia Pike Library to anchor new development fronting

Columbia Pike• Plan for cultural uses, such as museums, gallery spaces and

performing arts space• Street frontage for student services to be offered to community

(hairstyling, barber, auto services, pop-up restaurant, computer repair)• Space for higher education classrooms, and partnerships with local

colleges and universities to build out site• Relocate Arlington Community High School, if space would be superior

to the current space

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Follow-On Work

• The CCWG recommends the following:• Visioning process to identify APS school sites and define buildings of

the future• Comprehensive assessment of field spaces and athletic uses• South Block acquisition and development• Parking, Transportation and TDM study • Integration of site history into the development of the Career Center

site, including an archeological assessment prior to construction and monitoring during construction

• That each of these be acted upon and overseen jointly by the County and School Boards

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Next Steps

• Before Fall 2019• All recommendations for follow-on work area acted upon• Parking and transportation study is completed

• Fall 2019• Building Level Planning Committee (BLPC)• Public Facilities Review Committee (PFRC)

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“Cooperative, coordinated, long-range planning processes are Arlington’s best opportunity to continue delivering the excellent education provided by APS while finding comprehensive solutions that make efficient use of our limited land and dollars.”

- p. 53, Career Center Working Group Final Report, 2018

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