Former hardware store Higginbotham Brothers, which closed in June, will serve as the future site for LHISD's new maintenance warehouse. (Community Impact staff) (Zacharia Washington/Community Impact)
Liberty Hill ISD is preparing to open a new maintenance warehouse that will have more than double the amount of storage space as its current facility.
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.
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 professional development room will be used to train the district's transportation, maintenance and custodial staff, Superintendent Steven Snell said.
The property will also include three covered storage buildings totaling 9,000 square feet.
The new maintenance warehouse will include warehouse storage space as well as offices for maintenance staff, police officers and the district nurse. (Courtesy Liberty Hill ISD)
The property will include a 17,000-square foot maintenance warehouse building alongside additional spaces for storage and parking. (Courtesy Liberty Hill ISD)
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.
