Design Competition Launching for New Dunbar High School Building
Dunbar Senior High School in Shaw has always been one of the best examples of the worst in D.C. public school architecture.
Built in 1977, it has that geometric, jailhouse-type look, much like Bruce Monroe Elementary on Georgia Ave., which was supposed to be demolished this summer. This morning, the D.C. Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization (OPEFM) announced a meeting for the first phase of a competition for Dunbar's new design.
Earlier this year, OPEFM finished off a similar competition for Wilson Senior High School. It drew 21 proposals for the first round; that group was narrowed down to a “short list” of six firms. Each firm was given $25,000 to prepare preliminary design concepts. Ultimately, Cox Graae + Spack Architects (GCS) of Washington won.
"That’s exactly the plan [again]," says Tony Robinson, spokesperson for OPEFM.
Before it was known for its hideousness, Dunbar–its former, earlier building–was known for its grandeur. (It looks a lot like Eastern Senior High School on Capitol Hill, according to Robinson.) Dunbar is also known for being the first "municipally financed" high school in the U.S. constructed for African-American students. Hopefully, the new design will stir up some of the old nostalgia and pride, says Robinson.
"We heard from so many alumni about what the building used to mean to the students," he says. "We don’t we want to recreate the building brick by brick," but firms should strive for the same sensation.
An earlier version of this story stated that Bruce Monroe had been demolished. The Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development announced in August that it was beginning demolition on the school then. But at least part of the building–the part I glimpsed this weekend–is still standing today.
8:16 am
maybe they could fit it into the grid, reopen some streets that were cut off by this monstrosity...
9:48 am
Oh man this is happy news. not only is Dunbar horrifically ugly, its so badly constructed that chunks peel off every so often.
5:09 pm
Are they refurbishing this building or outright replacing it?
The latter seems to be complete overkill, and hence a waste of money, though would likely block the one good escape route for the I-395 tunnel extension, and would be consistent with other efforts to chock Washington D.C.'s transportation corridors.
http://wwwtripwithinthebeltway.blogspot.com/2007/11/i-395-extension-superior-option.html
http://wwwtripwithinthebeltway.blogspot.com/2008/07/takoma-dc-tranport-chock-developer_4323.html
http://wwwtripwithinthebeltway.blogspot.com/2008/05/cuabrookland-transport-corridor-chock.html
10:09 am
doug: you could really save some time and effort if you'd give up on the idea that you're going to get the freeway network of your dreams built in the city. not.going.to.happen.
hate to be the bearer of bad news, but in a democratic society, your idea has been voted down. move along.
12:33 pm
Dude- what vote?
How can there be a vote without consideration?
Is your comprehension so bad that you do not see that I do not proposed reviving the 1971 design but rather something far better?
http://wwwtripwithinthebeltway.blogspot.com/2007/11/i-395-extension-superior-option.html
Stop placing the wishes of the few over the needs of the many.
What you call 'democratic is in fact machiavellian feudalism.
1:46 pm
and what you call good ideas, doug, is wild, bizarro fantasy.
i used the term "vote" in an off-hand, silly way. my apologies. next time, i will make sure not to use idioms or any other turn of phrase that might rile you up.
7:11 pm
That's a pretty good description of our all too often unanimous without debate 'asonic dictatorship, like that which cancelled most of Alexandria's Washington Street Urban Deck.