Midway ISD

CHALLENGE

In 2013, Midway Independent School District (ISD) developed a $34M bond package to address numerous needs within their school district. Among those needs was new and expanded space for extracurricular activities, namely athletics and fine arts. The proposed Midway Activities Center (MAC) needed to provide an indoor environment for football practice, as well as other sports, and space for coaching staff offices and locker rooms. The proposed Fine Arts Addition needed to provide additional space for theatre, orchestra, dance, and choir practice as well as new theatre space for events. Both projects were located at Midway’s existing High School campus. The primary challenges these sites presented included 100-year floodplain, drainage and grading, utility service, parking/paving layout, and platting.

SOLUTION

The project sites were near an unstudied FEMA floodplain. The floodplain had to be first studied to understand the limits of the 100-year flood. The results indicated that the proposed MAC would encroach into the 100-year floodplain, which is not allowed within the City of Waco. Therefore, the floodplain had to be revised by performing earthwork that allowed the building to be located as desired without causing the 100-year floodplain elevation to increase on upstream or downstream properties. Furthermore, the Fine Arts Addition was located near a tributary to North Flat Creek which had experienced flooding problems and caused erosion along Midway’s property. A concrete lined channel was designed to convey the drainage past the Fine Arts additions and prevent future erosion.

Half of the MAC building site is located within the City of Waco, and half is located outside City Limits (Waco ETJ/McLennan County). Therefore, platting efforts had to be coordinated between both entities to ensure compliance. Additionally, there were numerous existing and proposed easements that needed to be recorded. A plat was successfully prepared and recorded to address the school’s needs.

Parking spaces were required for both facilities. Therefore, a parking layout was prepared, including provisions for fire lanes, vehicle circulation, access to nearby streets, and ADA accessible routes. These provisions required close coordination with numerous City and County officials, as well as other design professionals.

To ensure adequate drainage, the parking lots and the landscaped areas around the buildings had to be properly graded. Additionally, storm drain systems were designed to convey water away from the buildings and prevent flooding.

The projects required new water and wastewater service connections. Water connections included fire lines, irrigation services, and domestic water services. The locations, routes, and capacities of each connection was closely coordinated and approved by City staff.

VALUE

Walker Partners provided expertise to the owner that helped achieve all of their intended goals. Our firm met all of the design deadlines, often ahead of schedule. Our firm played a leading role in coordinating between the numerous design professionals on the team. During design development and construction there were very minimal surprises or revisions. Walker Partners’ relationship with City and County officials provided for a very smooth design and construction process for the owner. While there were numerous site challenges for each project, each challenge was systematically analyzed and addressed for the owner. 

completion date: 2015

location: waco, tx