HISD says it’s completed the purchase of land on Scott St., just north of the Gulf Fwy. between Coyle St. and Pease, for its new High School for Law and Justice, pictured above in a rendering from the DLR Group and Page, the building’s architects. HISD jettisoned the criminal enforcement elements of the school’s name last year; it was formerly known as the High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice. The site is near the southern edge of East Downtown, adjacent to the Leeland station of the about-to-open Purple light-rail line.
Notable features of the new 104,866-sq.-ft. building include a courtroom and law library, special spaces for both ROTC and visual arts programs, a gym, and a black box theater. The facility also appears to be designed for easy surveillance: “From the ground floor, transparent walls will allow visibility into labs on the second level for a crime scene area, fire science and a 911 training call center,” an HISD account notes. And that’s just how principal Carol Mosteit wants it: “I love the idea of having all this transparency and glass because we’ll be able to see the learning that’s taking place throughout the building,†she told an HISD blogger. “The way traditional schools are set up, it’s almost like an interruption when you open up a classroom door. We won’t have to worry about that with a 21st century building design.â€
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HISD expects it will take 3 months to clear the Scott St. site. Construction is expected to begin this summer, with students moving into the new building in January 2017.
A bidding war over the school’s existing campus in Magnolia Grove off Shepherd north of Memorial Dr. was won by neighboring St. Thomas High School. After the move, St. Thomas will expand its campus to incorporate the existing 11-acre site at 4707 Dickson St.
- HISD finalizes property purchase for new High School for Law and Justice [HISD News Blog]
- Design for new HSLECJ has courtroom, law library at heart of school [HISD News Blog]
- Previously on Swamplot: Working the System: New Bids To Buy HISD’s Law Enforcement HS Are Millions More; Bids To Buy Law Enforcement HS Punished for Not Following Rules; How One Buyer Would Use HISD’s Law Enforcement HS Property; A Standoff To Buy HISD’s Law Enforcement HS Campus
Rendering: HISD/DLR Group, Page
High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Alum here.
Can confirm most people think you’re a criminal when you mention the former name.
crack dealers there are extremely disappointed.
Is this a technical school for future police and EMS responders? It seems pretty silly for them to have a law library if that’s the case. Why don’t they just make it a regular magnet school with the added technical programs.
“The way traditional schools are set up, it’s almost like an interruption when you open up a classroom door. Now we can interrupt classes by merely walking through the hallways”
Looking at this location on Google Maps, the site looks like a nasty old industrial site, complete with dumped drums outdoors. Also, are they going to take Edmunson Street for the property? Without that, the land is truncated width-wise.
I agree with Joe Dirt. A few months ago that area had the highest number of drug dealers per square block of any area I have ever seen in Houston.
I commend HISD, as a product of the district i am glad to see them using and maximizing their bond so well…4 of the 5 original specialized schools (Debakey Health Professions, HSPVA, Carnegie Vanguard, Law Enforcement) are touting brand new building in prime centralized locations. All they need to do is place Barbara Jordan HS for Careers some where north of downtown on the red line possibly where the current Marinez Elem is.
@adoile, you’ve got a plan!
Great Job HISD! This is a huge win for EADO community and this state of the art building will remove many old abandoned houses off Scott Street!
HISD’s contribution to the police state?
“From the ground floor, transparent walls will allow visibility into labs on the second level for a crime scene area, fire science and a 911 training call center,†an HISD account notes. And that’s just how principal Carol Mosteit wants it: “I love the idea of having all this transparency and glass because we’ll be able to see the learning that’s taking place throughout the building,”
Seems like the principal and the designer think the “CSI” and “Bones” are representative of real life crime labs – somehow I doubt it.
HISD’s way of diverting attention away from all the sub-par schools they operate in a neighborhood capacity.
Houstonian, I think the programs at this HS are broader than that. I would imagine you would get kids who were interested in becoming parole officers, social workers, crim law paralegals, and even a few lawyers. In those cases, the law library would get more use. Although I’m not sure a law library is useful for anyone much anymore, since you can do just about anything you want with Westlaw. I’m sure Westlaw would throw some free licenses at HISD for this program; they give every law student in the US a free license for their 3 years of law school (or they used to – I’m a little old).
Barbara Jordan High School is not leaving where it’s at and is a part of the northeast side. That light rail will have to come this way for any moving by a rail line to happen.
With all this talk about a new justice center for the City, I wonder whether HISD may have missed out on an opportunity for a strategic partnership. (I acknowledge that they may have other constraints, many moving parts and all that.)
For everyone making disparaging comments about HSLECJ, this school has provided an alternative magnet option for kids all over the district for many years without your opinion about police states and other ridiculousness. Not everyone is a Debakey or PVA candidate and LECJ has always been a great option for those interested in Law AND Criminal Justice.
Not to be “that guy” but in 2015, what’s the difference between a law library and — say — a smart phone?
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Granted I’m some old guy that’s not researching in books anymore, but don’t people just look stuff up on their iPhones? Do people really open up the card catalog drawer, look up something by the Dewey decimal system, and find the row/shelf/book ?
This architectural fad for having mullions on adjacent stories which don’t line up needs to end yesterday.