A redesigned Uni featuring an attached gym. To see floor plans, go to the end of the article. Gargoyle photo by Deborah Ladd (click to enlarge)

A redesigned Uni without an attached gym. The gym would be located across the street on U of I property slightly to the northeast. To see floor plans, go to the end of the article. Gargoyle photo by Deborah Ladd (click to enlarge)

URBANA — Students and faculty got a glimpse Thursday of what Uni could look like in the coming years as architecture firm Wight & Company unveiled drawings of suggested additions and renovations for the aging building, now in its 88th year of use as a high school.

Firm representatives Andy Joseph and Rachel Simpson presented two different sets of floor plans and computer models of their suggestions, both of which consisted of structural changes within Uni's current building as well as replacements for Uni Gym and the Math and Hue Houses.

They developed the plans after visiting the school and consulting with faculty and students to find out both the strengths and weaknesses of the current facilities.

In one alternative, all of the new facilities, including the gym, would be attached to the main building. They would be located on the property that currently contains Uni Gym, the two houses, and the adjacent parking lot.

In the other alternative, the new gym would be located on a separate piece of nearby University of Illinois property, slightly to the northeast of Uni, on the other side of Goodwin Avenue. The other new facilities would be attached to the main building.

The first scenario makes room at the east end of the addition for a midsized gymnasium with a fitness track. It would house the library on the first floor of the addition, along with a sound-proof music room and a forum theater. The library, music room, and theater would be located in between the main building and the gym. Administrative and faculty offices would be housed in the main building.

The second design would allow for more first-floor classrooms and would put the library on the second floor of the addition. Like the first plan, it would accommodate a sound-proof music room and a forum theater, both to be located on the first floor at the east end of the addition. Administrative offices and student services would also be moved to the east end, with faculty offices in the main building.

The theater would be used for plays and other special events currently staged in the North Attic. The music room would replace the South Attic as the site for rehearsals and other music-related activities. By relocating the theater and music spaces to ground level, both designs would free up the fourth floor of the main building for larger visual arts facilities.

Both designs call for the construction of spacious commons areas on the first floor. The existing student lounge would be preserved in both designs.

To see detailed plans of each alternative, go to the end of this article.

Students speak out

At Wight & Company's first presentation of their drawings Thursday morning, students and faculty in the audience often found value in the changes but were cautious to support overwhelming renovations that would cause the school to lose some of its treasured traditional elements.

Asked what he thought of the new designs, junior Langston Allston-Yeagle echoed what many in the room felt about the proposed designs.

"It looks like it's a cool concept, but I mean I'm really kind of nostalgic about losing all of the green space," he said.

"And turning the lounge into a conference room-type area without couches sounds like a bad idea to me," he added, referring to a proposed student commons space that would serve as a more multipurpose gathering area.

Nevertheless, Allston-Yeagle mostly thought positively of the new designs — in particular, he pointed out the convenience of having a fitness track on school grounds.

"It seems like it could definitely work out well for the school as a whole," he said of the proposals in general. "We do need more space."

Sophomore Adam Joseph was similarly optimistic about the possibilities a redesigned Uni could offer. He expressed positive sentiments about both of Wight & Company's proposals.

"They're really good concepts," he said. "The two ideas are close enough in what they're going to give us, but different enough that ... both have their advantages."

Senior Isaac Chambers, whose independent study in the 2007-08 school year helped to spark ideas of redesigning the school, concurred with Joseph and didn't immediately declare a preference for one design or the other. He saw positives in both.

"The plan with the larger, perhaps bulkier, addition makes much better usage of space," Chambers said. "I really like the idea that everything is on one block. What you see is what you get."

Teachers weigh in

Uni faculty members who were at the first session expressed similar views on Wight & Company's designs.

"I think both plans have a lot to offer — I think both of them are very exciting," English teacher Steve Rayburn said. "I like a number of things [about the designs]. I like bigger classrooms that are more usable. I like the fact that the faculty are all going to be in the building and not scattered all around the block in houses that people never come to."

He added, "I love the idea that we have a music room and a real theater," noting that the larger rooms could allow Uni's fine arts department to more prominently advertise student performances.

Art teacher Lisa Evans expressed similar interest in the fine arts expansions. But she cautioned that too much new space might not be a good thing, as the increased square footage could result in a less recognizable Uni.

"I feel that [the larger design] ... blocks the eastern facade of the building, which I think is a shame to lose, because the building is so iconic," she said.

Still, like Rayburn, Evans was excited about the advantages of a redesign.

"I like that we have more performance facilities — I like that we have just a more open feeling," she said.

From the creators themselves

Andy Joseph, the architect who co-presented the firm's designs with colleague Simpson, said the goal of their proposals was to make Uni a more modern educational environment — a school for the 21st century.

"We're not teachers, but we understand a lot of what teachers and students do," Joseph said, adding that the designs stemmed from collaboration and feedback with faculty and students at Uni since January.

Many of those students and faculty, of course, expressed interest in holding onto Uni traditions — like keeping the general environment of the school the way it is. But Joseph said that improving facilities without major changes was unfeasible.

"If we had discovered that this building had enough space in it to satisfy all of the program needs, then we would be demonstrating that," he said. "But we didn't discover that — we discovered that we really need more space."

Another interesting tidbit Joseph told the Gargoyle was that his firm is also developing plans for a completely new building that would be located elsewhere on the U of I campus.

"The third option the University's asking us to look at is to build a brand new high school," Joseph said, noting that it could be useful to weigh the cost of doing that versus renovating and adding on to the existing school.

Got money?

Despite the extensive planning, there's no guarantee of a revamped Uni.

The next step will be for Joseph and Simpson to gather feedback on the designs and incorporate them into a new "iteration." The goal is to present the revamped plans at the spring general meeting of the Parent-Faculty Organization on April 8.

Wight & Company currently has no firm price on the cost of implementing their designs — although Joseph said between $20 million and $30 million seemed likely — and it is unknown whether or not Uni and U of I budgets would enable the ideas to be realized.

Nonetheless, the school community remains optimistic that something will result of the ideas, for which the U of I Provost's Office previously allocated $72,000.

Students Allston-Yeagle and Joseph both agreed that while they probably wouldn't see any changes during their tenure at Uni, they are still intrigued by what the school could become.

"Maybe I can come back sometime, say 15 years in the future, and see a new school building," Allston-Yeagle remarked. "It would be cool to see it happen."

A LOOK at the alternatives

A redesigned Uni featuring an attached gym. Gargoyle photos by Deborah Ladd (click for larger and sharper photo)

The first floor of this plan (click for larger and sharper photo). In this proposal, called the "axial option," the central hallway in the main building would be retained.

The second floor (click for larger and sharper photo).

The third floor (click for larger and sharper photo).

The fourth floor (click for larger and sharper photo).

A redesigned Uni without an attached gym. The gym would be located across the street on U of I property slightly to the northeast (click for larger and sharper photo).

The first floor (click for larger and sharper photo). In this option, the central hallway in the main building would be eliminated; rooms would be on one side of the building only.

The second floor (click for larger and sharper photo).

The third floor (click for larger and sharper photo).

The fourth floor (click for larger and sharper photo).

A look at the project goals (click for larger and sharper photo).