Repairs to the sinking Jenkins Middle School in Colorado Springs School District 11 are expected to cost around $31.5 million. That's the estimate from representatives with CRP Architects and Bryan Construction, who presented plans for repairs during a work session last week.
The school closed in January after a failed fire inspection.
Under the plans, the 7th and 8th grade wing will be demolished and rebuilt on the south side of the building.
“We determined that the current 7th and 8th grade wing really would've been too expensive and too difficult to salvage,” said architect Brian Risley.
In place of the old wing, architects are suggesting a new outdoor amphitheater.
Plans for the new media center include a mezzanine overhanging several labs on the first floor.
“What we've proposed is a series of labs that would be on the ground floor and then what we're calling a learning stair. That would be a portion of the big two-story space of the media center,” said Risley. “And then above those labs, as that stair goes up, we would have a series of classrooms and specialty labs that would be on a mezzanine level above.
With the anticipated return of 6th and 7th graders in the fall, contractors are moving quickly with the help of the fire department. Passive fire protection will be a thing of the past with the new building.
“So our understanding from a series of meetings with the fire department and the state building officials was that we would ultimately fully sprinkler this building,” said Risley
The board has already allocated $5 million. It is expected to vote on the remaining $26 million needed for the project at a special meeting on Wednesday, April 30. The board expects repairs to be complete by August 2026.
