Two additional members of the team were added in 2002 when architect Hollis & Miller Group was elected to design the project for the school district and general contractor A. L. Huber was selected to construct the building. The combined design team evaluated alternative plan solutions, building systems and materials and design build methods before arriving at the final plan and budget in April 2004. Pre-construction documents were priced by the contractor to assure the school district a good balance of quality and cost. A successful school bond issue in April 2004 triggered construction, which started on May 6, 2004.

A Unique Project

This project is unique, starting with the building design characterized by stucco veneer walls, red tile roofs, hipped sloped roof configuration and distinctive colors. The method of construction and the cohesive team are a unique combination of private and public sector philosophies. Equally unique were the participation of the developer, school district and city in a TIF (Tax-Increment Financing) agreement combined with a school bond issue to fund the project. At the city’s suggestion, a Historic Preservation Easement was established to govern the restoration process, document the condition and ensure long-term maintenance of the historic facades of the arena. Timing, constructability, age of the structure and cost contributed to the school district and developer considering a different method to construct the building. Basically the developer would build from plans prepared by the school district and sell to the school district when complete.

The School Site
The transition from an arena and stables to a school has been seamless. Site development follows the original in many ways. The best-known approach, from the northwest and the main entry drive of the farm, is unchanged. The arena was oriented on the main drive to the Longview Mansion. The formal entry to the arena will remain as the formal entry to the school. The view from Longview Road of the north elevation is unchanged and supplemented by additional trees and landscaping. Along two sides near sidewalks is a white two-rail fence reminiscent of Longview fencing. The oval drive on the west remains basically in the same location. All drives have new curbs and gutters.

A marker for Revelation’s grave site (a favorite show horse of Loula Long Combs) will be maintained and accentuated by a flagpole. The current access drive connecting the front to the north side of the building is utilized for a major entry point to the building. The original main entries will be used as entries or exits from the school. Entry through the courtyard wall into the main center area of the arena is the focal point of the school. Twenty-six of the existing trees have been saved and incorporated into the landscape design, with parking and drives configured to save trees. When completed and maturing, the arena/school will blend into the neighborhood much as it has since its inception.

Once surrounded by pasture and fenced barnyards, the school will now be surrounded by housing. New Longview is being developed in Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND) vernacular. Hundreds of houses will be within walking distance of the school. A school site fits well into the traditional design. At 8.6 acres, the school site is about half that of newer elementary buildings yet it will provide for soccer and softball and three separate playgrounds. A modification was requested from the UDO of landscaping requirements for this project because it is located in a very dense urban site. The plan has met the UDO requirements for parking and has provided open play area for soccer of 70,000 square feet and 16,800 square feet of soft and hard playground. Drive and parking have also been modified to save trees, exceeding the green space by 17,000 square feet. White rail fencing with shrubs along the north and west property lines has been provided. Additionally the entire south frontage is lined with shrubs, and more shade trees have been added to the north view corridor to supplement the existing mature trees.

In lieu of a bus loop and drops offs, students will disembark from buses parked along the widened Arena Street to the south. Students will enter directly into the classroom wing of the building.

The School’s Exterior
The Longview Show Horse Arena has been returned to its original condition using original materials, stucco, wood windows and trim and clay roofing tiles in original colors. Exterior barn doors have been removed and replaced with new functioning, code complying doors and hardware. The original doors are restored and used to create a dividing wall between the gym and cafeteria. Additions to the building were designed with scale in mind with the ridges no higher than the barn portions of the original so not to overwhelm the arena structure. The main entry has been restored, complete with arched storefront windows.

The design team was careful to separate the classroom addition by a courtyard of at least 20 feet, minimizing physical contact on the south. To maintain the scale and to create a distinct but similar elevation, details from the original building were repeated including the pitch and shape of the roof and the unique “Dutch” hip roof details. Distinctive design elements repeated in the addition also feature roof dormers and eyebrow awnings above entries. In several locations structural wood members from the original arena have been used for support of eyebrow brackets at entryways. Brackets for the new structure were created using wood that had been salvaged from the original structure. The dormers, detailed with windows and overhangs, continue the relationship to the original structure. Window sizes, mullions and their patterns and the treatment of connecting elements give a similar rhythm to the addition.

The major classroom addition is connected via a recessed link corridor. The link is pulled back in reverence to the barn. This provides a distinct definition and separation of new versus original. Two copulas on the arena were carefully restored and are now illuminated at night. Replacement clockworks make four-sided clocks visible from great distances. A new smaller cupola designates the main student entry from the south and adds scale and a visual connection of the two buildings. The food service addition is an agrarian simplified design and of a scale to nest up against the dominant arena structure in the manner of the carriage and barn portions of the original. This addition also saves the higher east windows into the arena and brings natural light into the cafeteria space. The plan has many articulations emulating the original structure. From all sides the arena remains the dominant visual element of the new structure and visual focus of the entire neighborhood.

The School’s Interior
The arena lent itself to the desired zoned operation/configuration of a school quite easily. Student support and administrative areas are located in the former show horse barn. Classroom and student areas are located in the additions. The major north/south hall lends itself well to the desirable circulation pattern of the school. A double link connection between the arena/office/gym and cafeteria and the classroom wing make a racetrack plan and permit clockwise circulation for students going to physical education, art, music or lunch and eliminates cross traffic. From the entry hall, all three major entries to the building can be observed.

Many elements of the original building are included in the design. The history of the Long family, the farm and the area will occupy prominent displays and interior design features. Restored exterior doors become the dividing wall between the gym and cafeteria. Horse-stall partitions become the walls of walkways along both sides of the gym. Cast-iron bow trusses spanning the gym are accentuated against the natural finish of the wood deck. Heavy timber post and beam structures are exposed, expressing the structure. The media center opens into the hayloft space to create an interior volume and bring natural light in through the existing dormer windows. Loula Long Combs’ fireplace occupies a prominent location in the waiting area of the school. In addition, the entire building features a safety sprinkler system and meets the current codes requirements of the City of Lee’s Summit and the 2004 IBC.

The mechanical system is deigned to provide cooling via a 330-ton air-cooled chiller with high efficiency boilers for heat. A four-pipe fan coil unit system with individual room temp control is provided for the classrooms and administrative offices. Serving the gym is a single zone variable volume temp air-handling unit. Ventilation is provided with two 100-percent outside air units with an energy recovery system. An energy grant was received from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for the economies of the new system.

It is likely that the history of the building will find its way into the daily student activities through research, oral presentations and learning opportunities. Artifacts or Long family possessions could be displayed in an interpretive center to augment education of people, periods, occupations and life in the early 1900s. The structure itself presents an opportunity for historical exploration and celebration that is all-important in elementary education.

Planning and design for the building has been provided by the Hollis & Miller Group located in Lee’s Summit. Other design team members are Hamilton and Sterrett, civil engineers; Bob D. Campbell, structural engineers; Smith & Boucher, mechanical/electrical engineers; Montgomery Hoffman, food service; and Cindy Geir, codes consultant. A. L. Huber is the general contractor with major subcontractors being Meca Electrical, Fagan and Company and Lexington Plumbing. The R-7 School District Design Team included Dr. Mary Alice Neal, Dr. Tom Kurucz, Dr. Michael Pragman, Brian Sloan, Tamara Sandage and Don Kaiser.