Spring Branch ISD demolishes Landrum Middle as part of 2017 school bond
Suburbs // Memorial
Elliott Lapin, Staff writer
Demolition crews work at Landrum Middle School, 2200 Ridgecrest Dr., Wednesday, June 16, 2021 in Houston. Workers began demolishing the 65-year-old Spring Branch ISD school on Wednesday.
Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographerShow MoreShow Less
A rendering of what the new Landrum Middle School will look like
Stantec ArchitectsShow MoreShow Less
Landrum Middle School, 2200 Ridgecrest Dr., is shown Wednesday, June 16, 2021 in Houston. Workers began the demolishing the 65-year-old Spring Branch ISD school on Wednesday.
Horace Max "H.M." Landrum was Spring Branch ISD's first superintendent, serving from 1941-1976
Spring Branch ISDShow MoreShow Less
Multiple excavators rumbled around the site of the old Landrum Middle School building as it began crumbling.
The building was demolished as Spring Branch ISD puts the finishing touches on the new Landrum Middle School building in the same area. The demolition of the building, which opened in 1956 and has undergone multiple renovations and additions, is the latest project from the $898.4 million Spring Branch ISD bond that was approved by voters in 2017.
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Construction on the new $73 million building began in December 2019 and is scheduled to be completed on Aug. 16, just in time for the beginning of the next school year.
"We are so excited about how the new Landrum Middle school is turning out," Spring Branch ISD Associate Superintendent of Operations Travis Stanford said during a presentation in January. "We're so excited about what this is going to mean to the staff, to the students and especially to that community around Landrum Middle School."
With the construction of the 234,000-square foot facility taking place in the same area but at a site next to the old building, students were able to continue learning at the old building throughout the construction process.
The site of the old building will ultimately become a parking lot.
The new three floor building — which will serve 1,100 students from Landrum and a KIPP Academy school that will share the campus — includes dining commons for students, media centers, PE and athletics facilities, fine arts facilities and collaboration areas.
The new Landrum is Spring Branch ISD's first new middle school building since it opened Northbrook Middle School in 1973.
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Another bond project that is taking place this summer is the installation of new turf fields at Northbrook and Stratford High School. Memorial and Spring Woods had new turf fields installed last summer.
Construction is underway on a new wing of classrooms to Northbrook and on a new theater at Stratford.
Multiple elementary schools are planned to be replaced as part of the bond, with construction already underway on the new Hunters Creek and Bunker Hill Elementary School.
Of the $898.4 million bond, $796.3 million (approximately 88.6 percent) is going to construction and facility upgrades with the rest targeting instruction, technology, transportation and administration costs.
Landrum Middle School is named after Horace Max "H.M." Landrum, the district's first superintendent, who served from 1941-1976.
elliott.lapin@hearst.com
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Elliott Lapin
Elliott Lapin is a writer for the Examiner Newspapers.