LeboDesign.net: Is this the high school you want?

Over on lebodesign.net, Dan Rothschild has written a great article about the recently released cost-cutting changes to the high-school plans. If you’re wondering what’s been changed or what those changes mean – and you should – read his article.

Mr. Rothschild argues that, when bids for the school board’s preferred design came in almost 20% over budget, the school board was forced to drastically reduce the cost of the project. But how?

Examining the list of proposed cost reductions, Mr. Rothschild concludes that the school board is attempting to cling to its original design and extract savings by “diminishing” that design, cutting away or downgrading pieces of it.

But drastic cost reductions, he continues, usually require a different design or substantial design modifications – if you want to preserve your original design intent. That’s because everything that was part of the original design was there for a reason. If you cut that design back by a fifth, you’re likely to sacrifice things that were essential to it. (Think about it: if a four-fifths version of the original high-school design would have met our original design goals, wouldn’t we have gotten that design in the first place?)

So Mr. Rothschild asks, highlighting some of the things our community is likely to give up with the diminished design, “Is this the high school you want?”

Is it?

Read his article, consider what we’re giving up, and think about that question.

Also consider the alternative that Mr. Rothschild offers: Reusing Building C. If you would like this alternative to get the consideration it is due, ask the school board to study it and estimate not only its potential cost savings but also its potential educational benefits.

Mt. Lebanon does have more than one option. It’s time for the school board to stop acting like it doesn’t.

Trib: Well-known architect seeks public say on Mt. Lebanon renovation

One of Pittsburgh's most accomplished architects is trying to make his mark on Mt. Lebanon's high school renovation project, and he wants the public to help.

Daniel Rothschild, founder and principal of Strip District-based Rothschild Doyno Collaborative and co-designer of projects such as the Fairmont Apartments in Garfield and the Legacy apartments in the Hill District, is trying to get the Mt. Lebanon school board to open up about revisions being made to the $113.27 million high school renovation project.

He has established a blog at lebodesign.net with the hope of generating community pressure to make the redesign process more open to public scrutiny and suggestions.

Read the full article:

• www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_747607.html (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

P-G: Mt. Lebanon High School project talk on website

Conversation and debate about the planned Mt. Lebanon High School renovation project has been ubiquitous over the past two years.

It has taken place in school board and commission meetings, in town halls, on twhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifo citizen-run blogs, in coffee shops and on sidewalks. Now, as the district struggles to find cost savings to bring the project within its budget, there's a new venue for conversation and debate.

Lebodesign.net is a website recently launched by Mt. Lebanon resident Dan Rothschild to facilitate public input on the Mt. Lebanon High School project.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/11202/1161820-55.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

New web site LeboDesign.net offers constructive look at the high-school project (Updated)

Updated 2011-07-21 10:45 with links to additional coverage.

Here’s something interesting. Dan Rothschild, president of the architecture and urban-design firm Rothschild Doyno Collaborative, and also a member of the Community Advisory Committee appointed by the school board to review the plans for high-school project in late 2009, has started a blog. Called LeboDesign.net, the blog “is dedicated to increasing public participation and input during the process of redesigning the Mt. Lebanon High School project.”

Already, the blog has several informative posts. If you’re like me and have had trouble making sense of the design and architectural complexities of the high-school renovation, you’ll want to read these posts.

The very first post, for example, puts the school board’s current predicament into perspective:

Our School Board has embarked on a process to substantially alter the design of the high school because of the unfortunate position of having the low bid for the project come in nearly twenty percent over budget. This is a very challenging task. Their process will yield one of three outcomes:

1. They will find enough items to cut, and the design intent and function of the high school will be acceptable
2. They will find enough items to cut, and the design intent and function of the high school will not be acceptable
3. They will not find enough items to cut

The School Board is heavily invested in outcome #1.

But what if option #1 isn’t possible? Or what if the cuts cut too much? These are difficult questions, and considering them, and others like them, is what Mr. Rothschild says LeboDesign.net is all about. The site exists to foster discussion, to encourage collaboration, and to offer the community and the school board options and perspectives that they might not get otherwise:

The purpose of lebodesign.net is to help you play an active role in the redesign process, from the comfort of your own home (or portable electronic device), for this important project that will affect our community for a long time. Another purpose is to assist School Board members in getting more input from their constituents.

Whatever your thoughts on the high-school project, take a look at LeboDesign.net. It’s an interesting, constructive response to the challenges faced by the high-school project.

And, while you’re there, contribute your thoughts.

Additional coverage:

• Well-known architect seeks public say on Mt. Lebanon renovation (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
• Mt. Lebanon High School project talk on website (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)