The Arts and Humanities Focus Program at Lincoln Public Schools has officially found its temporary home while the current building undergoes a $2.6 million total remodel later this year.
Beginning in June, the program will move into a building at 1309 M St. in downtown Lincoln for a full school year until construction is complete.Â
The space, which has been vacant for several years, has everything the district was looking for in a temporary location and will be a perfect fit for the program, Director of Operations Scott Wieskamp said.
"We're excited about it," he said. "I think the kids will, hopefully, have the ability to kind of make it their own home, so to speak, just for the short time that they're there."
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The district will lease the space for a total of nine months and pay $5,750 per month.
Wieskamp and his team considered more than a dozen locations across the city and had a lengthy list of requirements spaces needed to meet in order to be a good fit for the program.
First off, the building had to be big enough to hold about 100 students and staff, plus the large equipment some art forms require, like kilns and pottery wheels. It also needed a drop-off area for students who are bused to the focus program as well as adequate parking for staff.
Luckily, LPS was able to meet all of those requirements with the 13th and M streets location, Wieskamp said.
The space is about 6,000 square feet and is centrally located in the city — similar to the current location in the old Bottler’s Building just northeast of Lincoln High School. It also has spaces that can be utilized as classrooms and plenty of room for large group activities.
The natural lighting will offer great opportunities for art and photography, and there is even a covered outdoor area students and staff can take advantage of, he said.
Plus, there's a parking lot next door that the district was able to lease, too.
Even the ceiling tiles there match the current building, so the program will be able to transfer the tiles that students have painted on over to the temporary location.Â
"I'm very thankful that Lincoln Public Schools pushed to find us a unique spot for a unique program," Principal James Blake said. "I think there might have been easier places to put us, but it wouldn't have fit our culture, our community."
Staff will begin moving into the building on June 1, but before then, Wieskamp said the district will need to do some cleaning and minor renovations to make it move-in ready.
The operations team is already working to plan the logistics of how they'll move everything, while staff is currently in the process of packing what they don't need for the final month of the school year.
"It'll be a challenge, but we're looking forward to the move," Wieskamp said.
The $2.6 million project at the current building is set to conclude next summer so students can return to the building by the start of the 2025-26 school year.
When construction is complete, the program will have bigger classrooms, new equipment, professional displays, dedicated spaces for digital art opportunities, a green screen area, studios and possibly even an art garden outside to display student art along the nearby walking trail.
The exterior of the building will also get some touch-ups, including window replacements, roof work and sealants.
Both students and staff are excited for the future of the program as it undergoes these massive changes — especially since it's all happening during the 25th anniversary of the focus program this year, Blake said.
LPS will celebrate the anniversary on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at the program's current building with an open house and a short ceremony open to the public.
"I think for a program that was so visionary 25 years ago, it's just a tribute that the idea worked," Blake said. "We're ready for our next 25 (years), and this building is a great way to kick that off."