Members of the Patrick Henry community gathered at the school on Wednesday night to meet the project managers for the new Patrick Henry School and Recreation Center Project.
Elijah Gross, ACPS Director of Planning, Construction and Design, introduced the team from Brailsford & Dunlavey appointed as project manager for the project two weeks ago.
Members of the public were given an update on the project and an explanation of the process for hiring an architect. They were also provided an explanation of how the community engagement process will work and encouraged to sign up for the encouraged to sign up for the Patrick Henry Community Advisory Group.
The Community Advisory Group will be responsible for gathering opinions from their respective communities and relaying them to the Design Review Team, responsible for the actual design work. The Community Advisory Group will also report back to the community with information from the Design Review Team and Community Advisory Group.
“The goal is to keep the whole community fully engaged, while keeping the process of building the new school and recreation center on time,” said Laura Durham from the City’s Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities.
Meetings during the design stage, including the Community Advisory Group, will be open to the public. There will also be opportunity for online engagement and feedback. Sign up for the Patrick Henry Project email list or visit the Patrick Henry Project web page for ongoing updates.
Wednesday was the first time that ACPS livestreamed an event via Twitter and Periscope and this practice will continue for Patrick Henry community meetings in the future. This allows those who cannot be present in person at a meeting to ask questions of the presenter via Twitter and get answers in real-time. To access this service for free, download the Periscope App via the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and follow @ACPSk12.
The next community meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 9, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. The Joint School Board and City Subcommittee will discuss the Patrick Henry Project on October 26, 2015 and December 23, 2015. All meetings are open to the public.