FACILITIES MASTER PLAN

MOA worked with Pueblo School District 60 to develop a comprehensive Facilities Master Plan, which led to the successful passage of a $237 million bond initiative in 2019—the largest bond ever voted on in the District’s history.

The master plan identified two key issues that impact the learning environment of the District: declining student enrollment and the critical condition of aging facilities. District enrollment had been declining for years, leading to significant under-utilization of existing facilities. As for the condition of District facilities, an extensive assessment revealed that most of the schools in the District were in very poor condition, with several emergency projects needing to be done each year. The master plan outlines how to address these two issues through replacement schools and significant renovation/remodel projects. In acknowledgment of community concerns and priorities, the planning team developed, analyzed, and presented 17 separate variations of the master plan to the community.

The year-long master planning process involved extensive community input and involvement, including participation by parents, students, District staff, school administrators, and community members. A critical step in the overall process was “selling” the importance of the master plan and subsequent bond initiative to the community, which had been unwilling to support bond initiatives in the past. With the goal of educating the community, the team hosted over a dozen “town hall” meetings to explain the need for updating the District’s facilities and the long-term value of this plan to the Pueblo community. The master plan team comprised MOA ARCHITECTURE, HGF Architects, and thinkSMART Planning.