The School District of Lee County has released the first look at the preliminary designs for a renovated and remodeled Bonita Springs Elementary School.
The project is scheduled to start in summer 2025 and finish before the start of school in August 2027.
“Our students, their parents, and our staff members are so excited to have a new school,” said Bonita Springs Elementary School Principal Cynthia Hernandez. “We are so cramped for space because the main building is unsafe to occupy that we must set up tables in the hallways for small group and individual learning sessions. Our staff is ready for the classrooms they need and our students deserve them.”
The school has about 500 students now, according to Rob Spicker, assistant director of Media Relations and Public Information for the district. He said the remodeled school will accommodate up to 679 students, and that the use of portable classrooms and hallway learning will not be necessary when the remodeled building reopens.
Spicker said the historic part of the school has been shut down for safety reasons for four years after a portion of the roof collapsed. Under this new plan some of the brick facade and murals from the historic building will be preserved and used in the new structures, according to Spicker.
The original one-story, three-classroom school opened in 1921. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
He said the district determined that restoring the entire historic part, and bringing it up to code and safety standards, would cost up to $10 million. Spicker said the district needs to focus on educating students, and not preserving entire historic buildings. Thus, he explained, the district decided to save the $10 million that would have gone to a complete historic preservation.
The district said remodeling Bonita Springs Elementary will enhance student learning by creating a state-of-the-art facility with improved classrooms and modern facilities that better serve today’s education needs.
The Bonita Springs City Council discussed the fate of the school at a meeting Wednesday night, December 18. Some council members voiced concern that most or all of the historic part might be torn down. Those council members said they wanted the city to get in touch with the district to get details on what is going to happen with the school. Now the preliminary plans have been released for public view.
The Florida Department of Education has approved the replacement of the school’s main building and cafeteria building to create new classrooms, administrative offices, modern media center and lunchroom large enough to accommodate student capacity.
The preliminary budget for the remodel is estimated at $40 million.
WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.