HISD will have a new Paul W. Horn Elementary School ready to teach students by August 2011.
Bellaire City Council approved unanimously the specific use permit to build the replacement school at their Monday night meeting.
“The fact is, we need a new school at Horn,” Mayor Cindy Siegel said. “We really want something that HISD and Bellaire can be proud of.”
HISD presented their plans for the new school to council on April 19, during a public hearing.
The replacement school will be able to accommodate 750 students, whereas the current school is maxed out at 572 students. The current school is only designed to accommodate 502 students.
The new Horn Elementary school will be built on the northeast corner of Avenue B and Holly Street, where the Little League fields are. Once the school is built, the old Horn Elementary School will be demolished and Bellaire Little League will have the opportunity to rebuild their fields. HISD owns the property and has not set aside any funds to rebuild the fields.
“We are confident we can make everybody happy and make Bellaire a better place,” Little League President Elise Neal said.
Neal said she has never had a meeting with HISD about the little league fields, but doesn’t expect any funds from HISD to rebuild after the replacement school is finished.
Currently, the little league is looking for a temporary field space to have their games.
During the public hearing on April 19, over 14 residents addressed the council with their concerns about parking.
One of the recommendations to the city council from the planning and zoning committee is to leave the parking lots open for public access, to help prevent parking on the street. The replacement school will have 146 parking spaces.
Meredith Smith, senior manager for HISD, answered questions from the council about the replacement school.
Smith said that HISD does not have an objection to the public using the parking lots.
“Everything we’ve done up to this point is saying that we want the community to use the land,” Smith said.
Council voted unanimously to approve the specific use permit for Horn Elementary School.
“I’m very excited about the new school,” Councilmember Will Hickman said.
The 85,000 square foot replacement school will be completed in time for school to start in August 2011.
