Critics don’t like plan for new middle school in Clayton (Mo.) district

Some say the replacement for Wydown Middle will be too big and too close to the street

Jan. 24, 2011

From The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: TheClayton (Mo.) district plans to build a new Wydown Middle School, but critics say the planned facility is too big (nearly 25 percent bigger than the existing structure), too close to the streets and too modern-looking. School officials, who want to let construction contracts in March and open the school in 2013, say the new design is a good fit for the educational needs of the school's 600-student enrollment, even if it's not perfect in every other way. They say the small size of the property -- less than five acres -- has caused the challenges.

DECEMBER 2010...from The St. Louis Business Journal: The Clayton (Mo.) School District will break ground in March on its new, $39.4 million Wydown Middle School, a 120,000-square-foot, two-story school for 550 students. A four-phase construction plan is expected to begin in March and be completed by the end of 2013. The architects are Arcturis and Neumann Monson Architects