Designs for new Havre de Grace High approved by Harford school board

Residents got their first look at the schematics for the proposed new Havre de Grace Middle/High School at a meeting Wednesday. (David Anderson/BSMG)

Replacement of the aging Havre de Grace Middle and High School, which one school board member called a "dream come true," reached a significant milestone Monday night, when Harford County Board of Education members voted 6-2 to approve the proposed schematic designs for the $86.8 million project.

Board Vice President Francis "Rick" Grambo and board member Robert Frisch voted against approving the designs, and board member Joseph Hau was absent.

Board member Thomas Fitzpatrick, who represents the Havre de Grace area, said the project is "a dream come true to a lot of people."

The designs were presented to the public during a forum in the Havre de Grace High School auditorium last week. While most of the people who attended were pleased with the designs for the long-desired replacement, several residents said they are concerned about traffic around the combined middle and high school.

The 240,000-square-foot school will be built facing Lewis Lane, and separate entrances for cars and school buses are both off Lewis.

Board member Cassandra Beverley echoed those traffic concerns.

Lead architect Karen Burlingame, of Grimm and Parker, told board members that because of the ongoing flood control and stream restoration project in the Lilly Run stream, which crosses the campus, construction of additional access to the campus from Juniata Street would add about $1 million to the cost of the project.

Superintendent Barbara Canavan praised efforts to design the exterior of the school, which will have a capacity for 1,300 middle and high school students, including 200 for a computer science magnet program, in a manner that reflects Havre de Grace's history and culture as a maritime and industrial community.

"That sense of warmth is important to the community but it also extends itself to our kids," Canavan said.

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Designs for new Havre de Grace High approved by Harford school board