Middletown Elementary and Middle Schools Replacement

Contact

Brad Ahalt
Senior Project Manager
(301) 644-5164

In February 2023, the Board of Education of Frederick County (BOE) approved the Middletown Campus Feasibility Study which recommended the replacement of the schools with a single co-located building. The projected capacity would accommodate 523 elementary school students and 839 middle school students. Since receiving the recommendation, FCPS:

• March 2023: Issued a Request For Proposals for design services for the Middletown Project.
• June 28, 2023: Presented the award recommendation for Cannon Design to the BOE; recommendation was approved by the BOE
• July 1, 2023: Project design funding became available
• July 12, 2023: Issued a notice to proceed to Cannon Design
• September 13, 2023: Recommended the award of Construction Management (CM) services for the Middletown Project and presented to the BOE who approved the award for the CM services to Whiting Turner Construction Company

Following their standard process, FCPS is now conducting the design, and planning for additional opportunities for engagement with the Town of Middletown and the school community.

On September 11, 2023, FCPS and the Cannon Design team met with the Town of Middletown leadership, and Planning Commission members.  During this meeting, the design team members, and FCPS Capital Programs Department staff were introduced to the Middletown Planning Commission, and the town leadership.  At this meeting, concerns related to the overall traffic patterns were presented by the Town.  The project team returned for another public meeting with the Town Leadership, and the Planning Commission on October 24, 2023.  The Whiting Turner team was introduced at this meeting, and the design team discussed an option for a potential site plan for the project based on the concerns heard from the Town during the September meeting. Members of the town leadership, and planning commission noted that the option presented by the project design team addressed some of the major concerns related to traffic on this campus.

It was discussed during the October meeting that the Design team will prepare, and submit a concept site plan showing the location of the building, parking lots, and other site amenities in time to be included on the December 2023 Planning Commission meeting agenda.  Once presented to the public during the Planning Commission meeting in December, FCPS will schedule a community meeting in January 2024 to present the concept site plan to the broader Middletown community. The site plan is anticipated to be approved by the Planning Commission by April of 2024.

The project is currently in the initial stages of the schematic design phase. The schematic design phase is when the design team collaborates on the overall goals for the project, compiles data about the site, conducts field surveys, and assesses constructability concerns. The existing site plan is evaluated as well as identifying all pertinent adjacent landscaping, stormwater, roads, and buildings.The evaluation also identifies features that may affect construction, such as rights-of-way, buried utilities or soil conditions. The primary focus of current efforts is to develop a site plan for approval, which includes a drafted view of the location of the proposed building and identifying necessary site improvements such as landscaping, walkways, roads, utilities connections and service drives. These efforts require coordination with Town and County staff to evaluate options and ensure compliance with applicable codes and ordinances.