CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Corpus Christi Independent School District (CCISD) is underway on several projects involving their schools. Notably, two new school buildings are in the design phase.
At CCISD's school board meeting on Monday, renderings of the schools were revealed for the first time.
Both schools are paid for thanks to Bond 2022.
The new Hamlin Middle School will replace the current Hamlin Middle School at the same location of S. Staples Street near Weber Road, with some upgrades.
“We have proposed and designed with some feedback from user groups and the district, that the new main entry of our prototype will face Staples Street and have kind of a grand look at— face to Staples (Street),” said Nick Gignac of the architect firm Gignac/PBK.
Gignac said the firm is working with the city on a traffic impact analysis to make sure everything flows properly with a S. Staples Street entrance.
Part of the design will overlap where the current school stands. So, the plan is selective demolition, so that students can still use the current school while the new one is built. Once the new school is completed, then the old one can be fully demolished.
Hamlin students may be designated to use another schools athletic facilities for extracurriculars, during construction.
With the growth of Corpus Christi, comes the creation of the new Southeast Middle School.
Southeast Middle School will be located on the same plot of land as a new elementary school will be built. Gignac said that elementary school and parking lot are 51 percent done. He said the schools will be located off an extended portion of road that will be Oso Parkway. The land around the schools is currently undeveloped.
Included in the middle school construction will be athletic facilities, a detention pond and more parking. Entry to the middle school will face what they've labeled as the east access road, a road yet to be constructed.
The architects are still working with the city and area developers to discuss how they planned to develop the area. So to make sure the school design fits in with their plans.
A color scheme for Southeast Middle School won’t be decided on until a mascot has been chosen.
Much of these middle schools will look similar to recently built CCISD schools of the same size. Both schools will have a unique design to the entry way.
Gignac/PBK is using their past experience building CCISD schools and feedback from administrators, to make improvements.
“Baker and Cunningham, we had an open concept library. The principals and the librarian felt that they would rather have it closed for the sound transfer. So, things like that we were able to improve on," Raymond Gignac said.
Both schools are set to open in the for the start of the 2025-2026 school year.
For the latest local news updates click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App.
