Construction Completed on Jordan School LEED Renovation
Drought tolerant ground cover and pervious paver parking are helping the project to obtain LEED certification.
Six HUD grants totaling more than $1 million helped to pay to renovate the school.
The school was restored to its 1925 appearance.
After 10 months of construction, the Jordan School reopened its doors to welcome school children this fall. A historic
Midtown landmark in the City of St. Petersburg, Florida, the $4.7 million renovation incorporates a variety
of sustainable design practices and will be one of the first City of St. Petersburg LEED® Certified
projects. Sustainable design practices include reuse of major building materials, parking lot
base, and historic sidewalk hex blocks. Additional features include a cistern system for
reusing gray water, use of local materials to reduce transportation energy consumption, treatment
of storm water runoff, dark sky lighting, low volume drip irrigation systems and xeriscape
landscape design with Florida native plant materials. Asbestos and lead remediation were also performed.
Opened in 1925, Jordan Park Elementary was the City’s second school for African American children.
The school was named for Elder Jordan Sr., a pioneer in the black community in the early 1900s. When the
two-story brick school opened, it served over 1,000 children in 12 classrooms. In 2007, the Pinellas County
School Board donated this property to the City of St. Petersburg. Head Start first began using the building in
1983. They have now moved back into the building and are using the space for education and community services.
Community meetings have been held to determine what additional uses for the building are a good fit for
the property and the community.
The renovations were funded in part by six grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. More than
$1 million was provided by Economic Development Initiative grants and Community Development Block grants.
Wade Trim worked with Renker Eich Parks Architects to prepare survey, civil/site/electrical
engineering and landscape architecture construction documents for permitting, bidding and
construction. A photo gallery showing historic photos of when the school was in use and the renovated school is availabe on Renker Eich Parks Architects’ Web site at http://www.reparch.com/repa_Jordan_School.htm.
Check out this video by Hennessy Construction Services that shows the school before the renovations.
At the school’s open house, residents reminisced when they were students at the school. The video was put together by The St. Petersburg Times.
