Historic Douglass High School
Location: Leesburg, VA
Client: Beyer Blinder Belle
Owner: Loudoun County Public Schools
Size: 50,700 SF
Axias Role: Cost Estimating (Design)
Listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places, the Douglass School operated as Loudoun County’s first and only Black high school from its opening in 1941 until 1968 with the termination of segregated education. In later years, it became an alternative high school and adopted programs dedicated to special-education students, English-learners, and substance abuse education, as well as housing the Douglass Community Center.
The original 9,400-square-foot one-story building consisted of four rooms. Since that time there have been two additions on the 9.9-acre site. In 1950, a science laboratory, home economics suite, and five classrooms were added. In 1960, a gymnasium, shop, cafeteria, and several classrooms were built.
In fall 2021, a new Loudoun County Public Schools facility in Leesburg called The North Star School will begin to host all of Douglass’ programs, as well as its current occupants. This transition will give way to the “complete renewal of the Douglass High School building,” according to school board documents. Commemorative works will be key elements incorporated in the building renovation to tell the story of Douglass High School.
Current LCPS programs to be housed in the renovated building include the English Learners Welcome Center, Head Start, Starting Towards Excellence in Preschool (STEP), and the Child Find program, and the building will include space for use by Loudoun County Parks, Recreation and Community Services. Another space will provide for historical artifact display by community stakeholders. The scope of work also extends to landscape improvements. Construction has begun, and the renovated Douglass School is scheduled to reopen in 2022.
Axias provided cost estimating from the early programming stages to confirm that the scope and quality requirements of the owner would fit into the available budget. We followed up with milestone cost estimates as the design progressed to verify its compliance with the budget. The owner also engaged with a construction manager at risk during design, and we reconciled these milestone estimates with the budgets produced by the construction team to confirm competitive pricing was being obtained at every stage of the procurement process.