BRECKSVILLE, Ohio -- A proposed master plan for the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District’s main campus on Mill Road would be divided into seven phases -- and cost tens of millions of dollars over several years.
That’s according to a presentation by Superintendent Jeffrey Harrison and Treasurer Craig Yaniglos to the Board of Education on April 14.
The four middle phases alone would cost between $55.4 million and $59.3 million.
Work would include a new bus-only entrance and traffic loop, four new sports fields within two new stadiums and a renovation of the existing Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School stadium.
The first phase, demolition of the former Hilton Elementary School, has already been completed, at a cost of $533,500.
The second phase is a proposed campus access drive off Mill at the Hilton site. That project, estimated at $2.4 million, is meant to alleviate traffic on Mill and improve traffic flow throughout the campus.
The access drive has received preliminary approval from the Brecksville Planning Commission.
The seventh phase is a renovation of Brecksville-Broadview Heights Middle School. However, the district administration has not yet determined the scope or estimated cost of that project.
Harrison and Yaniglos suggested asking voters to approve a $35.5 million bond issue that would pay for three of the seven phases -- the bus driveway and loop and the two new stadiums -- on the May 2026 ballot.
If the issue were approved, investors would purchase bonds that would pay for the three phases of campus improvements.
Landowners would pay back investors with interest over time through increased property taxes.
Yaniglos said, for example, that a 1.5-mill bond issue could be repaid over 25 years.
Harrison said district officials have always envisioned the overall master campus plan as “a dream.”
He said they knew estimates would be high, but added that the plan is exciting.
“It takes the beautiful campus that we have and gives it purpose and an identity and sets the tone that when you come to Breckville and Broadview Heights, this is a representation of who we are,” Harrison said.
The school board called for caution.
Board President Mark Dosen said the district must also consider it’s day-to-day operating budget, especially as the Ohio General Assembly looks at changing the ways school districts are funded.
“As exciting as all this is, I have grave reservations on sequencing (the phasing of campus improvements) and going out for bond money before we have our operational house in order,” Dosen said.
“I don’t think that’s a wise approach to sequencing.”
Harrison said the next step is reassembling an ad-hoc Campus Master Plan Steering Committee -- consisting of Brecksville and Broadview Heights city officials, district staffers, athletic coaches, young people and residents -- that worked on early versions of the master campus plan.
The district wants the steering committee to weigh in now that the master campus plan has been fleshed out and includes dollar estimates, Harrison said.
The Mill campus redesign was drafted by Architectural Vision Group Ltd., a Westlake firm the district hired last year, with help from the steering committee.
Breaking it down
The district moved forward with what would become the campus plan’s first phase -- the demolition of Hilton -- after Hilton, Central, Chippewa and Highland elementary schools were replaced by the new pre-K through grade 5 Brecksville-Broadview Heights Elementary School in 2022.
District officials considered saving the Hilton building, but determined that it was too old and would cost too much to repair.
The second phase -- a campus entrance drive off Mill that once led to Hilton -- was spurred by traffic backups that started a few years ago, after the district rescheduled start times for both the high school and middle school.
The existing Hilton entrance drive doesn’t connect to the remainder of the campus. The second phase would make that connection and allow smoother traffic flow through the campus while taking traffic pressure off Mill.
Here’s a rundown of phases three through seven:
Phase 3: A new bus-only entrance would be constructed near the western property line of the campus, where bus traffic would be segregated from parents’ and pupils’ vehicles.
Buses would drop off and pick up pupils behind the middle school. The plan would include a bus loop that would allow buses to turn around and leave the campus.
To make room for the new entrance drive, the district would demolish and relocate the art wing of the middle school.
“The dedicated bus loop will significantly improve campus traffic flow and student safety,” district literature says,
Estimated cost: $15.3 million.
Phase 4: A new stadium featuring two artificial-turf fields -- one for baseball, the other for softball -- both with 300-seat bleachers.
The stadium would also include press boxes, sound systems, masonry dugouts and a concessions building with restrooms.
Estimated cost: $8.7 million.
An optional building with locker rooms, offices and a training room would increase the price tag to $9.9 million.
Phase 5: A second new stadium with a turf field for soccer and lacrosse and a separate grass practice field.
The stadium would also include bleachers with 1,000 seats for the home team and bleachers with 500 seats for visitors, a concessions building with restrooms and a ticket booth and a press box, sound system, scoreboard and lighting.
Estimated cost: $9.1 million.
If the concessions building is expanded to house additional locker rooms, offices, a training room and lobby, the cost would rise to $10.3 million.
Phase 6: Renovation of the existing high school football stadium. Improvements would include artificial turf modifications and track-and-field enhancements.
This phase would also feature a new 10,300-square-foot building with an entry plaza, a new press box with broadcasting capabilities, a video scoreboard and bleachers large enough to seat 4,000 home fans and 500 band members.
Estimated cost: $22.3 million. If additional “stadium facility space” is added, the cost would increase to $23.8 million.
Phase 7: Harrison said the middle school building is in solid condition, but in years to come it will likely need work.
The district hasn’t determined whether the building will need only new flooring, lights and paint or a complete renovation.
“That’s down the road a little bit, (compared) to the other needs we have,” Harrison told the board. “But it needs to be in the conversation.”
Yaniglos said the middle school phase could cost anywhere between $5 million for a “refresh” to $30 million for a major renovation.
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