(Seguin) – Plans are officially in the works for the new McQueeney Elementary School. Potential renderings of the new voter approved campus were shared recently with members of the Seguin ISD Board of Trustees.
Architect Robyn Popa, of Pfluger Architects, says they are starting off with the design phase of the new replacement campus dubbed, “New McQueeney.”
Land for the future campus has already been claimed on 25 acres off of FM 725 just a few miles up the road from the school’s current site.
She says her team has already developed a floor plan and is currently in the process of reviewing those plans with Seguin ISD departments.
“The nice thing about this site is that there is good drainage. There is a natural slope to the site. It really requires minor, minimal clearing. There’s not a lot of vegetation that is out there and there’s some opportunities with the natural low spot to perhaps provide some enhanced exterior classroom or educational spaces within the site design,” said Popa.
Popa says the campus includes a two-story plan. She says that’s in order to maximize its imprint on the land and to help maximize the budget of the overall project.“The building itself is sitting just under 100,000 square feet. It is designed to accommodate 750 students at its core capacity and can go up to 850 at maximum capacity. The parking lot area, there’s 118 parking spaces up in the front main parking area with an additional 46 behind more for staff and private use. Also typical with your elementary schools, two types of playgrounds there – a younger kids playground that’s more immediately adjacent to the wing that their classrooms would be in and then an older kids playground with the associated walking path,” said Popa.
She adds that the new school will also be designed with a large bus drive and will have more than adequate cueing for vehicles during drop off and pickup.
Included in the renderings for the campus are intentional connections to the natural environment such as large window views from the library as well as the introduction of isolated outdoor learning environments which not only protect students from the sun but will be spaces that are easily monitored.
With progress well on its way, Popa says the schedule looks to have the school ready within three years.
“As far as the progress of the project, we are about 46 percent complete with design. We are anticipating to wrap up the design in January of 2024. We will use February through April to bid the project out and then construction, right now, we are anticipating, it’s probably around a 24-to-27-month construction time frame – so ready to open for the academic year 2026-27,” said Popa.
At the end of the update, Trustee Cinde Thomas-Jimenez, who represents the McQueeney area, questioned the future name of the school and whether or not there was a plan to change it.
Providing her with that answer was Seguin ISD Superintendent Dr. Matthew Gutierrez.
“There’s a lot of history with that name. It’s the oldest elementary school, I believe, in the district and I mean, I’ve just heard very strong feelings over the last several years about that particular name even though, it’s not located in McQueeney. It’s in very close proximity to McQueeney and it represents that part of that history,” said Dr. Gutierrez.
Pleased with his answer, Jimenez added “being in Mcqueeney, it really has no boundaries.” She says if it’s close to the river, “it’s Mcqueeney.”
Throughout this process, district officials did note that the traffic near the school on FM 725 will be one thing that will continue to be monitored. They say growth around that stretch of highway will determine talks and discussions with TxDOT and other area agencies. Additional renderings of the future $54 million campus can be found on the KWED Facebook page.
