D.W. Waters Center Tampa, Florida

Client: Hillsborough County School District

Location: 2704 N. Highland Avenue

Site: An existing school building originally built in 1910 and added to in 1920 on a city block in the heart of the Tampa Heights neighborhood.

Program Challenge: To renovate the school – the oldest high school in Hillsborough County – for use as an alternative vocational school. The building also needed to comply with the school board’s quality standards and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation of Historic Buildings while staying within the budget, approximately $94 a square foot.

Solution: Despite its age, the school was structurally sound, so rehabilitation was focused on cosmetic updates, upgrades to the building systems and some minor reconfiguration to create spaces that were well suited for the school’s new use.

The building’s exterior was restored to its original appearance. The brick joints were re-pointed, the steel lintels were replaced, and the brick walls and the terra cotta trim were cleaned. The windows were replaced with aluminum clad wood windows that matched the design of the originals, which were removed decades ago. The metal cornice and moldings were also repaired and repainted.

Inside, the original stair towers were retained and brought up to code while full glass walls were used to provide the required fire separation and to maintain the openness of the original design. Partitions in the classroom wings were repositioned to meet the needs of the proposed education programs. The brick wainscot at the main corridor was saved, however, multiple layers of paint couldn’t be removed so the brick was repainted to its natural color. The wood floors in the corridor and numerous classrooms were preserved. New plumbing, air conditioning, fire protection and electrical systems were also added to the building.

The project was honored in 2003 with an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, a Community Design Award for Outstanding Restoration from the Tampa/Hillsborough Planning Commission, and a Banner Award from Tampa Preservation Inc. In 2002 Rowe Architects received the Award of Merit for the Best Florida Renovation/Restoration from Southeast Construction Magazine for the project.

• 2004 Exhibition of School Architecture, National School Boards Association
• 2003 Outstanding Achievement Award, Florida Trust for Historic Preservation
•  2003 Community Design Award For Outstanding Historic Restoration, Tampa/Hillsborough Planning Commission,
• 2003 Banner Award, Tampa Preservation, Inc.