NNB News

An old classroom is cleared out during the renovation of Jordan Elementary School. It will be the city’s first environmentally certified building.

By Sybil Crocetti

St. Petersburg—After decades of neglect and almost 10 years of planning, one former elementary school is getting a makeover. A “green” makeover to be exact.

The building that once housed historic Jordan Elementary School, located on Ninth Ave. South near 22nd Street, will become the first city-owned building to be environmentally certified. The project has been on the city’s to-do list since 2001, but construction did not begin until funding and approval from the state were obtained, city officials said.

The city needed permission to remove the 1948 addition, which sat in front of the original entrance. The plan is to restore the original building using the latest in echo-friendly architecture and construction, planners of the project said.

“This is probably going to be the first high-profile St. Petersburg ‘green’ project,” architect Paul C. Palmer, 38, said.

Palmer and partner Kathryn A. Younkin, 53, of Renker Eich Parks Architects, were chosen based on their historical restoration and environmental experience.

The building will be evaluated using the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.

LEED focuses on key health and environmental areas such as energy efficiency, water savings and indoor environmental quality, according to the U.S. Green Building Council’s website.

In order to be certified, architects and contractors must adhere to LEED guidelines to earn a series of points.

The ratings are divided into certified (29-36 points), silver (37-43 points), gold (44-57 points), and platinum (58-79 points). With a goal of 41 points, Palmer said the team hopes to be LEED silver.

The $4.7 million project will include solar panels for water and electricity and a rainwater harvesting system that holds 5,000 gallons of water underground, Palmer said. Points are also earned through a form of air conditioning recycling called energy recovery ventilation, he said.

The parking lot will also contain a narrow pond to absorb excess rainwater to prevent it from ending up in the bay, Younkin said.

Other items on the LEED checklist include utilizing existing parts of the building, installing energy efficient lighting, automatic faucets, and recycling facilities and using safer paints, adhesives and finishes.

The landscaping will include native plants that can handle a dry climate, Palmer and Younkin said.

At the site, contractors of Hennessy Construction help earn points through recycling
waste that normally ends up in the scrap yard.

They also removed asbestos glue found behind blackboards and lead-based paints on classroom walls to make way for cleaner finishes.

“We’re kind of mixing the old construction with the new,” project manager Chris J. Roginski, 34, said of the LEED project. “This is the next evolution of construction.”

The team said they hope to finish the project by fall 2009, and once complete, federal
daycare program Head Start will occupy the restored building.

Jordan Elementary School opened in 1925 as the city’s second school for African-Americans during the days of segregation. The school closed in the early 70s.