After a long period of uncertainty about the future of Colorado Springs’ oldest high school — vexing alumni, current students and vested city residents alike — the process of modernizing General William J. Palmer High School to meet the needs of future generations of students enters a more public phase this week.

Colorado Springs School District 11 has earmarked $100 million in existing funding to go toward school renovations. The district is in the process of soliciting public feedback. The first town hall meeting for the project will be held at 5 p.m. Monday in the Palmer High School library.

The storied high school, located in the heart of downtown on the corner of Platte and Nevada avenues near the statue of the city’s founder bearing the same name, remains a landmark over 100 years after it first welcomed students.

Various rumors, including that Palmer could be razed and replaced, have generated angst.

But D-11 Superintendent Michael Gaal said he hopes the investments will revitalize Palmer, the school district and the downtown area where the school stands.

“Palmer is doing a good job as it is, it’s just not positioned for the future,” he said. “Every year, it’s just going to be a larger problem to fix, so why not just put that investment in now and fix it and then maybe be a good partner for the city for them to join along and see what other things can happen there?”

Certainly, the district’s intent has the attention of what might easily be called the Palmer nation.

“When you arrive from Kansas westbound on (U.S.) 24 (now Platte Avenue), and reach that intersection, you know that you are in the midst of greatness,” said David Dwyer, Class of 1967.

“General Palmer occupies the middle of the streets, and the William J. Palmer High School stands out on the northeast corner. With a U.S. flag flying high over an open patio large enough to hold the entire student body, the school portrays a show of greatness which amplifies the view of Pikes Peak directly in front of you.”

With the long legacy of the school comes the need that all aging schools eventually face: deferred maintenance and facility upgrades. With the funding approved and the architectural firm selected, the question is now how exactly they’ll do so.

D-11’s Board of Education approved a certificate of participation (COP) to fund the needed renovations to the school this spring. Rather than a mill levy override or a bond passed by voters, a COP is a funding mechanism for infrastructure projects with existing district budget funds.

Specifically, a COP takes existing revenue streams as a lease obligation that is not viewed as debt under the state constitution and can get paid off over a set period of time. In the case of D-11, these streams will come from existing mil levy overrides and bonds.

In addition to avoiding new bond or mil levy override votes, the district hopes the renovations to Palmer will serve as an example being good “stewards of the dollars” to build trust and encouragement in the community for future ballot initiatives.

Before the COP’s approval, talks to upgrade Palmer began shortly after Gaal was hired by D-11 in 2022 and roughly $30 million funding was set aside to install air conditioning in the main building. When accounting for additional maintenance repairs and meeting 21st-century learning standards, as well, the district began to entertain the idea of a larger investment.

Preliminary talks were focused on aligning with D-11’s Academic Support Plan, a 10-year plan to upgrade various “aged facilities that no longer align with current or future educational needs” through consultations and collaborations with qualified firms or teams of firms.

“And I saw, coming out of COVID, that the district was really struggling academically, and I said I think we can do something better with that $30 million than just put air conditioning in a building that needs more investment,” Gaal said.

“Palmer’s our oldest school. There’s a facilities index measure (and) it’s the one of greatest need, which means it’s furthest from 21st-(century) learning standards … and it’s just not consistent with the type of educational space that our students and our community deserve.”

Preliminary discussions, followed by the approval of funding with little to no public input, alarmed community members and galvanized current and former students to get involved.

While no definitive actions have been decided for Palmer yet, the process is now in motion to figure out what changes the school will — and won’t — see.

“We’re going to go through that,” Gaal said. “We have an engagement strategy, we have partners that are going to help us with that. We want everybody’s input and it’ll be super-exciting to see what that looks like.”

‘Cornerstone of downtown’

The origins of Palmer High are intertwined with the origins of education in Colorado Springs. Beginning as “The Old Stone House,” the first permanent school in Colorado Springs opened in 1875 at the corner of Bijou Street and Cascade Avenue after Queen Palmer began teaching local students at a local home there in 1871.

The school would burn down in 1890 and be replaced by the appropriately named Colorado Springs High School at the corner of Platte Avenue and Weber Street in 1893. As the city grew over the years, so did the school.

The present building opened in 1940 next to the existing high school, which was renamed in 1959 after the city’s founder, Gen. Palmer.

Dwyer, the past president of the Palmer Alumni Association, said he and other alumni hope the school retains its one-of-a-kind experience for both students and the city.

“It’s a cornerstone of downtown and makes a statement of its own,” he said. “And that’s what we want to stay the same.”

The school’s current alumni association was established in 1984 and remains active in the community. Members of the association continue to give tours of the school, which serves as a museum of sorts for its storied history, to incoming freshmen at the start of the school year.

Upon entering the school and exploring its halls and levels, one will find archival photos, memorabilia, awards and trophies and mementos from over the many decades that continue to adorn the school.

Notable alumni includes actress Cassandra Peterson, current NBA basketball player and former Denver Nugget Reggie Jackson, pioneering zoologist Patricia Louie Dudley and Tuskegee Airmen Samuel C. Hunter Jr. and Franklin J. Macon.

On the local level, former Mayor Robert Isaac, former El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder and current Sheriff Joseph Roybal are among graduates over the years who opted to stay in Colorado Springs.

Timothy Coy, Class of ’76, told The Gazette how the school represented the best years of his life, with the school’s social aspects resonating throughout its student body.

“Even today and despite living 175 miles from Colorado Springs, I attend quite a few class reunions and the occasional Taco Tuesday, where mostly 1974 graduates gather about once a month at Jose Muldoon’s downtown,” he said. “We talk about life, we talk about things that happened 50 years ago, we are all Terrors when we get together.”

Vision for new Palmer

To meet the needs of today and tomorrow’s students of Palmer, Gaal expressed an interest in reinventing or revitalizing the school’s open campus akin to Colorado College and other recent investments in downtown Colorado Springs.

Specifically, he emphasized the community role that an open-campus high school plays and how a renovated Palmer could enhance learning opportunities in a safe environment and further revitalize the area.

“We’re trying to make a partnership and an investment in our downtown. We’re not just trying to say, ‘This is the school that needs that,'” Gaal said. “We’re trying to think of school more collectively as part of the community.”

During an Aug. 14 work session, the D-11 board approved the selection of international architectural firm Perkins Eastman in partnership with local firms RTA Architects and NES Landscape Architects as the designers for Palmer’s renovations.

Among Perkins Eastman’s projects over the years, the New York-based firm has worked around the world on rebuilding and renovating structures ranging from residential and commercial space, including a number of K-12 schools and universities on the East and West coasts. In Colorado, Perkins Eastman completed the expansion of the Warner Imig Music Building at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2021 and the renovated Tutt Library at Colorado College in 2017 along with Civic Center Station and the Museum of Nature and Science Space Odyssey in Denver.

In addition to building new, modern structures, the firm’s areas of expertise includes renovating historically significant buildings like Tutt Library while maintaining its existing infrastructure. 

RTA has been involved with numerous renovation projects for D-11 elementary schools, most notably the expansion and reopening of John Adams Elementary, in addition to middle schools, high schools and elementary schools for other neighboring districts.

“But beyond that, we’ve worked from border to border in about $800 million worth of schoolwork all the way across the state,” said RTA Associate Principal Doug Abernethy during the work session. “From the smallest districts with 14 students to the largest school districts in the state, we’re here to support Colorado and especially Colorado Springs next door with this project.”

Over the summer, district administration met with four local architectural firms (three of which partnering with national firms) to present to an advisory board of nonvoting community members that included mayor’s office staffers, the Downtown Partnership and current Palmer students. After all the presentations, the board made their final selection at the work session.

Unlike the other firms interviewed last month, Perkins Eastman and RTA previously attended work sessions with the board multiple times in 2023 to discuss both D-11’s Academic Support Plan and possible renovations, including a new Palmer High School.

Palmer High School Student Body President Connor Strange, who was also a member of the advisory board, said that he was impressed by the initial presentation by the architects.

“If everything were to go as it was stated, I like it a lot and I think a lot of students will, too,” he said at the work session.

Public concerns

Not everyone is eager for the changes coming to Palmer.

On learning of the possible revisions, current and past students raised concerns about losing the school as they know it, given its cultural and historical significance to Colorado Springs, and the district’s history of closing its older schools over the years.

The oldest school district in Colorado Springs, D-11 has closed older elementary schools, including Kathryn Bates, Thomas Jefferson, John Greenleaf Whittier, Washington and Washington Irving Middle School due to both declining enrollment and maintenance needs.

Additionally, some schools have reopened or been repurposed following a brief closure. Lincoln Elementary became a shopping center, Helen Hunt Elementary was converted into apartments for homeless families, South Junior High School was torn down and replaced by the Colorado Springs Police Department headquarters, while Ivywild School kept the name and building but became a mixed-use commercial center featuring a brewery, kitchen and retail shopping options.

Wasson closed as a traditional high school and became the Wasson Academic Campus in 2013, home to D-11’s two alternative schools, The Bijou School and Nikola Tesla Equal Opportunity Center.

“I know how Wasson grads felt at the closure of their school and the disconnect with the city because of it. I can’t imagine the innumerable number of people that this closure would affect,” 1974 Palmer graduate Dan Brown told The Gazette. “Even closing and selling of the athletic facility due to ‘safety’ concerns rings hollow, as the alternatives raise many more safety concerns. The facility and students have operated safely for way too long to make that a legitimate concern.”

With the project confirmed but still in its infancy, speculation and concern spread as to what might become of Palmer.

Bulldozing and rebuilding the school entirely, selling Erps field to create workforce housing, demolishing Palmer’s pool and gym, busing athletic teams to practice at Garry Berry Stadium, and partnering with the YMCA for a co-location were among the possibilities being discussed.

Various work sessions took place throughout 2023 that included RTA, Perkins-Eastman and YMCA CEO Boyd Williams to discuss Palmer, though none of the ideas discussed has been approved to date.

Gaal said that these preliminary talks were the result of his “tendency to share my ideas too publicly” before anything was official and that various things he said over the course of time were taken out context, causing misinformation to be shared with various groups.

Regarding potential partnerships with groups like the YMCA, he said that nothing is defined but could still be an option going forward, with a financial investment being required. Other examples mentioned included the Colorado Springs Philharmonic and Fine Arts Center sharing the school for performances and displays.

“I think there are many partnerships to be had, but that’s really (depending on) the appetite of the community and the potential partners,” he said. “So, no, there is no mandated deal that’s on the table that way. I’m just trying to think of space differently.”

As far as what may or may not happen with Palmer, he added that the choice is ultimately up to the architects, but the initial plans and projections appear to point toward the reinvention of the existing campus.

“I don’t think there’s any ability for somebody to build something brand new,” he said. “So, I think that lays a lot of that fear to rest.”

Regarding the stated reasons to renovate Palmer, including student safety related to crowded hallways, homeless populations around the campus and crossing the street to the gym, some alums like Mary Ciletti, Class of 1967, said these seemed like unnecessary changes to a historically significant school.

“Those were all the case when we were going there,” she said. “So, we just felt like it was case-building as a way to push this through.”

Once word began to spread about changes coming to Palmer, past and present students began organizing to find answers regarding what was and wasn’t going to happen to their school.

In the winter of 2023, the school’s student council formed a subcommittee to monitor the process of Palmer’s renovations and to increase students’ involvement and input. Since the Future of Palmer Committee’s formation, members have attended school board meetings and work sessions and met with district administration to express their concerns.

Since this dialogue began, students have remained involved in tracking the progress of the renovations and have had a committee member sit in on preliminary discussions with the architects.

“I did feel a little out of place,” student body President Strange said about participating with the advisory committee. “But it showed that student engagement is being considered and I thought that was really cool.”

Community input

With the firms now selected, the next phase of the project is to garner public feedback to help guide the ultimate design of the renovations. The projected timeline is to garner community feedback this fall, develop and finalize a design next spring and have the board approve the design next summer.

“Our goal is to have association members participating in all phases of the process, and we will be working in coordination with the student-led Future of Palmer Committee and the PHS staff,” the Palmer High School Alumni Association said in a formal statement to The Gazette.

“We have been told that RTA Architects has a person on staff who is an architect historian, and we are encouraged by that fact. After almost 150 years since opening its doors, any future design needs to capture the history, culture, and community of Palmer.”

D-11 has created a page on their website dedicated to monitoring and updating the public on the renovation process. On Aug. 27, an online community survey went live on the website for community members and stakeholders to provide feedback on what they would like to see from the renovations.

Additionally, a series of town halls, beginning Monday, will also take place over the next several months to directly engage with the design team receive updates on the project.

With all options said to be still on the table, the decision now becomes prioritizing student needs going forward while preserving what’s important to the community.

“That’s why we have an engagement process and we’re super-eager to hear what that feedback is from the community,” Gaal said. “What’s important to keep? What’s important that we have? I think what I’d like people to think about is: think about $100-plus million as an opportunity, not as a risk.”