Facade to be constructed in similar architectural style as historical building

The Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to approve a settlement that will allow the district to move forward with a plan to build the Mickey Leland College Preparatory Academy for Young Men on the site of the former Wheatley/E.O Smith building in the Fifth Ward.

To honor the accomplishments and history of the school and the students previously educated at the site, district architects are planning an outside area and a Grand Hallway that is, according to the agreement, “befitting and honoring the dignity of the history of the previous school.” The Gregg Street and Lyons Avenue facades of the new two-story facility will use a similar architectural style as the current H.P. Carter building, which once housed the original Phillis Wheatley High School. Additionally, the school will incorporate as much of the original building materials, including bricks and decorative ornaments, into the design as is practical.

HISD is agreeing to devote up to $1 million toward the construction to implement the agreement. Demolition will begin early next week, and construction of the new facility is scheduled to start before the end of the year.

On Sept. 11, the Board of Education voted to rename the school — formerly known as the Young Men’s College Preparatory Academy — after late U.S. Rep. Mickey Leland, a graduate of Wheatley High School who went on to serve six years in the Texas House of Representatives and six years in the U.S. House of Representatives. He died in a plane crash in 1989 while on a mercy mission to Ethiopia.

Under the 2012 bond program, Mickey Leland College Preparatory Academy for Young Men is being built for up to 1,000 secondary students.

Leland Academy is slated to serve male students in grades 6 through 12. It was opened in the 2011-2012 school year with a mission to provide a comprehensive, rigorous, high-quality college preparatory education.

This Saturday, Sept. 20, any interested community members will have the opportunity to take personal photographs of the exterior H.P. Carter building. The district will allow visitors on the site from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Other photos of the building are available for public download here: http://photos.houstonisd.org/gallery/20140822-Wheatley/G0000mKTgQ1f4yyQ/C0000DUEP.gBajxk
Use “wheatley” as the password.

Images are preliminary and are subject to change as district architects meet with the Project Advisory Team and community.

Images are preliminary and are subject to change as district architects meet with the Project Advisory Team and community.