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Plant High Is Hoping To Renovate Courtyard

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By JAMIE PILARCZYK

jpilarczyk@tampatrib.com

Published: January 7, 2009

PALMA CEIA - Plant High School students, parents and alumni are scrambling to raise money to renovate the campus' crumbling courtyard.

The dilapidated area, at the middle of the school, is used for overflow cafeteria seating and a walkway among classrooms.

With a makeover, Principal Robert Nelson envisions teachers hosting outdoor classes, students hanging out in shaded areas and alumni hosting events.

"It has not been renovated in 30 to 40 years. It's fully out of place," Nelson said. "There isn't a center point anywhere on campus. This could be a center point."

The project includes demolition and grading, updated lighting, moving a small performance stage to the north side of the courtyard and adding brick pavers, outdoor furniture and a fabric canopy.

It will cost $325,000 to completely renovate the 20,000-square-foot area. The school district will contribute a $50,000 matching grant, and the Triad Foundation - a philanthropic organization based in Ithaca, N.Y. - is offering $100,000 if Plant High supporters can raise the same amount by March 31.

"That's a lot of money for the school to walk away from," said project chairwoman Nancy Lorenzen. As of Dec. 18, Plant fundraisers had collected $96,300.

"Plant has such a limited footprint for that area. It became important and obvious to use every inch of campus we could," said Lorenzen. "It's an area that has such great potential for so many uses."

Lorenzen, who is past president of the school's PTSA, said the PTSA and the school's Academic Foundation began considering such a project last school year at Nelson's request. They had worked their way down a priority list, renovating the library and raising money for a marquee on Dale Mabry Highway, and the courtyard project was next.

The matching grants made the project feasible, but the looming deadline led fundraisers to reach beyond parents of current students to alumni. If they meet their goal, construction could begin as early as summer and be completed when students return to campus in August.

CONTRIBUTING TO THE COURTYARD Donations, made payable to the Plant High School Academic Foundation, can be mailed to the school, 2415 S. Himes Ave., Attn: Courtyard Renovation Campaign. For information, contact Nancy Lorenzen at (813) 870-1978 or go to http://plant.mysdhc.org.

Reporter Jamie Pilarczyk can be reached at (813) 259-7661.

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