Project Case Study
Frank Rushton Elementary, USD 500 Kansas City Elementary School, spans 63,000 square feet and features 22 classrooms, a media center, serving kitchen, a multi-purpose room adjacent to the gymnasium that separates with an operable wall. Other features include administrative areas, flexible/collaborative spaces and a soccer field. The construction of the school was done in multiple phases. The team put together a schedule that allowed support staff and teachers to occupy the school sooner to ease the transition prior to the start of the school year.
The team’s priority was to focus on safety during construction because the project was completed just 30 feet adjacent to the occupied existing school. This required strict attention to the safety of the students, faculty, and visitors and extensive coordination with the neighborhood. The community surrounding the school is a high-density residential neighborhood, requiring the team to place a strong focus on communication and minimizing construction impact.
McCownGordon worked with USD 500 Kansas City Elementary School, McKinley Elementary to build a new 42,035 square foot school with 18 classrooms, a media center, serving kitchen and cafeteria, administrative area, various support rooms and a multi-purpose room, which serves as the school’s gymnasium. A clerestory provides maximum natural light, with wood ceilings and natural stone in some areas.
The team placed a strong focus on site logistics, phasing and traffic planning to accommodate the existing school that was in full operation adjacent to the construction site. McCownGordon paid particular attention to the safety during construction of the students, faculty and visitors.
Through the CMR process, McCownGordon worked with Hazel Grove Elementary a USD 500 Kansas City Elementary School, to build a two-story, 70,000 square-foot building and boasts more than 28 classrooms, a full gymnasium, office areas, cafeteria, multiple restrooms, and other support areas. The facility also houses a technically advanced media center with a unique lighting system creating a specialized ceiling arrangement.
With the new school constructed in the parking lot of the former facility, a focus on site logistics, phasing and traffic planning was paramount. The phased approach reduced the construction site considerably resulting in a confined work area. In addition, there was considerable slope across the site further complicating the site logistics. To overcome these challenges the team installed nine different retaining walls creating a level site to complete construction.
