John Burroughs School Makes Changes on Campus

John Burroughs School received approval to move ahead with the plan to build two new buildings on campus.

At Monday afternoon’s Ladue City Council meeting, Andy Abbott, head of John Burroughs, asked for an amendment to a plan previously presented and approved in 2005. That plan had included a new theater, a new athletic center and a new auditorium. The new plan combines the auditorium and theater into one performing arts center.

“That would be a slightly larger building, which would be located on the site that is presently the outdoor pool and the former tennis courts,” Abbott said. “The other building would be an athletic center located at the Clayton Road entrance.” 

“Haerttner Hall, our existing theater, would be torn down and turned into green space in the center of the campus, and we would have a larger central quadrangle. The architecture would be similar to the existing main building seen from Price Road,” he said.

Abbott said that having two buildings rather than three would make a less impervious surface than the former plan, less square footage, and move the larger building closer to the campus center, farther from property lines.

“It’s a less intrusive plan, more neighbor-friendly, and it also improves the Clayton Road entrance, bringing it more in line with the architecture seen from Price Road,” he said.

Abbott said that the zoning and planning commission had presented some conditions to the plan that were agreeable. Councilman Art Bond said that he understood one of the conditions for approval was for “nonsimultaneous use” and asked if that would be a hardship.

“We want simultaneous use but not simultaneous major events,” Abbott said.

“Our philosophy is that we don’t want to have two major events at the same time because we want everyone to come to both,” he said. “Simultaneous use would be a basketball game and maybe a play rehearsal.”

Councilman Charles Hiemenz said that he had noticed “No JBS Event Parking” signs at some commercial areas on Clayton Road and in bordering residential areas when events are held due to parking overflow issues. 

“I also see that the seating at the theater in the performance art center has gone from 508 to 754, and that the project will remove 29 spaces,” Hiemenz said.

“Looking at the increase in seating and decrease in parking spaces, how could we get around simultaneous events where major events cannot be held due to parking capacity limitations? Could we remove the word ‘major?’”

City Administrator Mike Wooldridge said that “public” could be substituted for “major.”

Councilman Walter Stein asked Abbott what had happened to the 2005 plan.

“We had a change at the head of the school and a change in the economic situation,” Abbott said. “When we looked at the plan, we felt we could accomplish everything we wanted with two buildings rather than three while giving ourselves some additional green space, which would be a more sustainable.”

He said that funding was in place and, pending approval, construction would begin in March or April of 2012. The council approved the zoning and planning commission’s recommendation pending the school getting a variance due to the building height. The building height exceeds the city’s 45-foot limit, and while the school had gotten a variance in its previous application, the buildings were not built, and the variance expired, making it necessary for another one to be granted.

Following the meeting, Abbott said he was not at liberty to discuss a final cost since the project was still in the planning stages. He said the theater would be 65,000 square feet, and the athletic center would be 55,000 square feet. He said the new athletic center will enable the school to host tournament games.

We won't have to go to Washington University for these games because we will have the capacity to play major games. Our present gym was built after World War II," said Abbott.

The Burroughs campus, located at 755 Price Rd., sits on 47.5 acres of land and has seven buildings including an auditorium, a library, a science building, a sports and performing arts center, and a fine arts facility.

In other business, the board tabled the public hearing concerning driveway gates on residential properties until the Sept. 19 meeting due to the absence of Councilman John Fox.