Richardson West Junior High approved for middle school reconstruction

James Watson, RISD’s senior executive director of operations, said the constraints of the site do not allow room for building expansion to accommodate the additional students, or the temporary classrooms that would be needed during renovations.

Therefore, a new three-story West will be constructed on the site of the Richardson High School baseball stadium, located next to the current junior high building.

When the new middle school is complete, the junior high will be demolished, and a new baseball stadium will be constructed in its place. The reconstruction will allow the existing junior high to remain operational throughout construction.

Zooming in

The City Plan Commission unanimously recommended approval for modified development standards to accommodate the proposed construction.

Plans also include constructing a parking lot on an RISD-owned vacant lot on Holly Drive, across the street from West and the baseball stadium. The lot will serve as parking for middle school staff and faculty as well as visitor parking for baseball games.

Also of note

Several residents expressed concern at the City Plan Commission meeting about the lighting from the new parking lot, which will be located behind several homes.

At the council meeting, Watson said the parking lot light poles will be as low as possible, likely around 20 feet tall, and will be located around the perimeter of the lot facing inward. The lights will also be shielded, focused downward and dimmable, emitting only a low level of light when they do not sense motion.

The details

The proposed construction for Richardson West, the baseball stadium and the new parking lot doesn’t fully comply with the sites’ zoning standards, so the district requested modified development standards, including:

• Higher maximum building height
• Waived building height requirements near residential areas
• Baseball field light poles allowed to exceed 30 feet
• Shrubs and fence allowed as screening wall

After council’s unanimous approval of the modified development standards, construction on Richardson West Junior High and the five other junior highs is anticipated to begin this summer. All middle schools are expected to be completed by August 2028 ahead of the fall semester, and the baseball stadium is expected to be completed by January 2029.