Horace Mann plans to expand once again

Horace Mann School is planning to expand, possibly starting as early as this summer. In a five-year master plan submitted to Community Board 8 in November, the school outlined its proposal, which includes four new buildings.

The plan’s inception dates back to 2008, when the Horace Mann Board of Trustees and administration formed a committee to conduct a self-evaluation into the needs of the school.

“Specifically, the school’s self-evaluation raised concerns about a lack of appropriate facilities for sixth- through 12th-grade science, athletics, physical fitness and campus life,” reads the explanation. Officials from the school declined to comment for this story.

To address those concerns, Horace Mann has proposed an overhaul of the northern end of their campus for its five-year master plan, prepared with help from the architectural firm Skidmore Owings & Merrill. The first phase of construction — which could start as soon as this summer — is a brand new 26,000-square-foot aquatics center, complete with a “state-of-the-art” swimming pool, a spectator balcony and a locker area. Renderings show the new center attached to Prettyman Gym. The existing pool in the gym would be converted to a fitness area.

During this phase, the school would also renovate the gym and build a “vestibule” to its eastern entrance.

The main attraction of the second phase of construction is a four-floor, 50,000-square-foot campus center/science building, also attached to the gym. The first floor will function as the “campus center,” featuring a large space on the ground floor for “much-needed open assembly space for gatherings,” reads the plan. The building will also have administrative offices and meeting space, with science labs and classrooms on the upper floors. From the renderings, it appears the footprint will take over two existing tennis courts.

The second phase also includes renovations to Pforzheimer Hall, which houses classrooms and staff offices. Down the line, the school wrote that it plans to put a new maintenance building in the southeast corner of the campus.