Sterchi Elementary School Additions + Renovations

Nestled under a thick grove of pine trees in the Cedar Heights neighborhood is Sterchi Elementary School, a neighborhood school dating back to 1959 which has been serving students and staff through a drastically changing world. Knox County Schools triggered funding to address the facility needs at Sterchi resulting from the significant population, technological, curriculum, and social changes of the past 60+ years.

The 15,300 SF program of additions includes a new secure entrance with enlarged waiting and reception area, a new administrative suite with additional offices, teacher workroom, and enlarged clinic, new music and arts wing, a new media center, and a new special education suite. Existing areas of the school relocated into the new addition are retrofitted as additional classrooms. Renovations totaling nearly 8,000 SF also include gymnasium improvements, new windows, and a new sprinkler system for the existing building and the new additions. The project’s site improvements include a new covered drop off, new parking, and underground detention.

The project has been designed to be completed in a phased approach while the school continues to operate. The existing main entrance of the school was temporarily relocated to the south part of the site to allow construction to occur in its place. Once the addition and parking lot improvements are complete, the main entry will be restored to the north part of the site.

LGA brought added value to the project by anticipating the need for temporary parking on the south side to support the demand caused by the relocated temporary entrance. Since the school has a large lot with generous green spaces, the existing walking track “borrowed” and prepared as an overflow parking lot to handle the temporary parking demand.