The board of trustees approved the schematic design for the new warehouse at a March 10 meeting following a presentation from VLK Architects Principal Tim Kunz.
The gist
This fall, the district will open a new maintenance warehouse at a 27,000-square-foot site off Hwy. 29. The property previously belonged to Higginbotham Brothers, a hardware store that closed in June.
LHISD will renovate the facility to have warehouse space, including storage for equipment and supplies, as well as offices for the district’s maintenance and operations staff, police department and district nurse.
The details
The 17,000-square-foot facility will include:
- A 6,200-square-foot warehouse
- 3,600-square-foot semi-conditioned warehouse with showers and lockers
- Three police department offices
- A nurse’s office
- Five multi-use offices
- Professional development room
- Conference room
- Break room
- Shelter room
The property will also include three covered storage buildings totaling 9,000 square feet.
The impact
The new facility will allow LHISD to greatly expand its storage capacity beyond its current maintenance warehouse—a 2,500-square-foot building behind Liberty Hill Elementary. The current building, which LHISD will continue to use, was built decades ago when the district had around 1,500 students, Snell told Community Impact.
At the March 10 meeting, trustee Chris Neighbors asked Kunz if the new warehouse could support LHISD with up to 18,000-20,000 students. LHISD’s enrollment, which is currently at nearly 10,000 students, is expected to reach over 18,000 students in 2033.
“I would say yes,” Kunz said. “You definitely have room for growth here, where right now, you are jam packed into the current facility you’re in.”
The facility is around the same size as the warehouse for Prosper ISD—a district with over 31,000 students, Kunz said.
The background
Voters approved $12 million for LHISD to design and construct the facility in the district’s 2023 bond election. The district initially planned to open a new maintenance warehouse next to its future transportation facility off US 183, Snell said.
After Higginbotham Brothers closed, Snell said he reached out to the company about purchasing the building. The district purchased the property for $3.6 million following negotiations and expects to spend $2 million on upgrades to the building, according to district information.
Stay tuned
VLK Architects is expected to finish developing the design in March, Kunz said.
Construction is anticipated to begin in May and finish in November, according to the presentation.
