Times In Depth: Board of Education releases site analysis for Webb Manor; 3 options presented for use

The Kentucky Board of Education has released the Site Analysis for 2160 Versailles Rd., situated at the corner of Mason Headley Rd. and Versailles Rd. The property was formerly the residence of wealthy real estate investor Dudley Webb, but he sold it to FCPS for well above its tax-assessed value. FCPS plans to use it for an all-girls’ STEM school and neighborhood elementary school.

Here are the highlights from the analysis. Scroll to the bottom of the page to review the full PDF. And stay tuned for additional documents, including the property appraisal and purchase agreement, coming soon.

Existing Improvements

Building facilities:

The property is currently a private residence. The main residence is a large, single family home. The main portion of the home was constructed in 1874. Including the basement, there is nearly 15,000 square feet in the existing building. The building is in very good condition and given its age and the high feasibility of adapting the use of much of the space, it is recommended to be preserved and repurposed for potential office, conference and classroom or study space. The grounds include a separate garage with parking, a large outbuilding / barn and a greenhouse.

Greenspace:

There are also well developed green and recreational spaces that could be well used by the proposed programs, including a patio and garden spaces, irrigated garden, sand volleyball court, tennis court, swimming pool and grass baseball field. As the grounds are in good condition as well and could facilitate both adaptive reuse of the house and exterior spaces for a variety of meeting, educational and outdoor activity spaces, it would be recommended that much of this space also be preserved.

Circulation and Parking

Current access is from Versailles Road via a small, gated entrance and is a non-controlled access point; Versailles Road is heavily traveled and a major / main access point from Versailles is unlikely to be feasible. The existing access point leads to a drive that traverses up slope to the main house. This drive appears to be in good condition and could be used for site access / circulation, though some improvements may be needed for increased traffic and loading. The main road leads to a garage and parking area and a loop road / drop-off at the main house. This drop-off loop is well situated at the top of the property with expansive views and would provide a good framework for site circulation if adapted for FCPS use. As a private residence, there is currently no large parking area and this would need to be constructed to suit the FCPS project program.

Currently there is no access from Mason Headley, although the grade is relatively level and access would be very feasible. Said access should consider aligning with an existing access point across Mason Headley at Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital. The intersection of Mason Headley and Versailles Road is signalized New access from Mason Headley would need to be some distance from the signalized intersection to minimize traffic back-up at key circulation times: morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up. Significant stacking distance on the property would also be important to minimize backup on Mason Headley.

Topography

The high point of the site is the south edge, where the existing development is located. This area is relatively flat and has attractive views out over the property. The desire to preserve much of the existing development limits use of this area for new construction. The east edge / Mason Headley side is also relatively flat; however the KDE required 200′ setback from the existing gas main limits building development on this edge, as does the ability to fit vehicular circulation around building placement here. This area is suitable for parking, circulation and green space, including playground and sport fields.

There is an existing pond in the relative center of the site; the east and south portion appear to drain to this pond. It is feasible to maintain this attractive feature, it includes a small dock and is already fenced. It may be useful for storm water management for these portions of the site. The west, northwest and south west portion of the site has steeply rolling topography and is currently mostly lawn area bisected by the existing drive access from Versailles Road. These areas are likely to need to be used for building development to some extent, and may be considered as an opportunity to use the building(s) to navigate the grade, with second / primary floor entrance at the upper elevation and first floor and service access potentially from the lower elevation. It may also be possible to configure the proposed building(s) with the grade to work along the existing topography to allow for a two story structure with all entrances at the same grade.

It should be anticipated that there will be some earthwork associated with developing the building pad. Depth of rock is not known at this time, however no rock/ rock outcroppings were observed at the initial site visit. No portion of the property is in the mapped FEMA floodplain.

Three different options were presented, each with and without the elementary school. Which do you like best?

Preliminary Site Development costs

Options A and B

STEM -$2.75M to $3.00M

Elementary – $2.45M to $2.70M

Options C

STEM-$2.95M to $3.20M

Elementary- $2.60M to $2.85M

Option A

Option A 1 (STEM only) notes:

• Preservation of the existing home and the majority of the existing grounds.

• Preservation of the existing pond and all of the associated wooded area.

• Vehicular/ car access is from Mason Headley. This is indicated as two access points, but could be consolidated to one with an internal loop.

• Excellent visibility of the new STEM building from the new entrance.

• Good pedestrian access from the new STEM building to the existing house and grounds for shared use of facilities.

• Good wayfinding and clear circulation.

• There is approximately 12′ of grade difference from front to back to address either via building design or earthwork.

• Bus/ service access is indicated as Versailles Road, using the existing access point. This could be accommodated from Mason Headley, but would require more roadway infrastructure.

• Bus loop will require grade work.

• One close parking area, the other is somewhat remote; depending

on anticipated space needs, it may not be necessary.

• Proximate parking lot would potentially require removal of the existing garage and metal barn.

• Play fields are somewhat remote.

Option A2 (STEM + Elementary) notes:

• Preservation of the existing home and the majority of the existing grounds.

• Preservation of the existing pond, removal of part of the wooded area for the elementary school development.

• Vehicular/ car access is from Mason Headley. There is a separate access point for the STEM Academy and the proposed elementary school.

• Excellent visibility of the new STEM building from the new entrance; elementary school is less visible.

• Good pedestrian access from the new STEM building to the existing house and grounds for shared use of facilities.

• Good wayfinding and clear circulation for STEM; elementary school may be less clear.

• Approximately 12′ of grade difference from front to back to address either via building design or earthwork.

• Approximately 18′ of grade difference from side to side at the elementary school building site.

• Bus/ service access is indicated as Versailles Road, using the existing access point. This could be accommodated from Mason Headley, but would require more roadway infrastructure.

• Bus loop will require grade work at both school sites.

• Reduced parking capacity as each site would have only one lot and whatever additional parking might be accommodated in the bus loops.

• STEM parking would potentially require removal of the existing garage and metal barn.

• STEM playfields are somewhat remote.

• Elementary school play area has good proximity.

Option B

Option B 1 (STEM only) notes:

• Preservation of the existing home and the majority of the existing grounds.
• Preservation of the existing pond and all of the associated wooded area.
• Vehicular/ car access is from Mason Headley. This is indicated as one access point, but could be two if preferred.
• Good visibility of the new STEM building from the new entrance.
• Excellent pedestrian access from the new STEM building to the existing house and grounds for shared use of facilities.
• Good wayfinding and clear circulation.
• There is approximately 12′ of grade difference from front to back to address either via building design or earthwork. It may be possible to configure the building to take more advantage of the relatively flat site of the garage and barn.
• Bus/ service access is indicated as Versailles Road, using the existing access point. This could be accommodated from Mason Headley, but would require more roadway infrastructure.
• Bus loop will require grade work.
• Parking may be somewhat limited; additional parking could be accommodated on the other side of the pond.
• Building site would require removal of the existing garage and metal barn.
• Play fields are well connected / do not require crossing drives.

Option B2 (STEM + Elementary) notes:

• Preservation of the existing home and the majority of the existing grounds.
• Preservation of the existing pond, removal of part of the wooded area for the elementary school development.
• Vehicular/ car access is from Mason Headley via one access drive; a second / separate access point for STEM only could also be developed.
• Good visibility of the new STEM building from the new entrance; elementary school is less visible.
• Excellent pedestrian access from the new STEM building to the existing house and grounds for shared use of facilities.
• Good wayfinding and clear circulation for STEM; elementary school may be less clear.
• Approximately 12′ of grade difference from front to back to address either via building design or earthwork. It may be possible to configure the building to take more advantage of the relatively flat site of the garage and barn.
• Approximately 18′ of grade difference from side to side at the elementary school building site.
• Bus/ service access is indicated as Versailles Road, using the existing access point. This could be accommodated from Mason Headley, but would require more roadway infrastructure.
• Bus loop will require grade work at both sites.
• Parking may be somewhat limited with two schools on the site. May consider one consolidated lot for employees and closer, small ADA and visitor lots at each building.
• Building site would require removal of the existing garage and metal barn.
• Play fields are well connected / do not require crossing drives

Option C

Option C 1({STEM only) notes:

• Preservation of the existing home and the majority of the existing grounds.
• Preservation of the existing pond, removal of part of the wooded area for the STEM building development
• Vehicular/ car access is from Mason Headley. This is indicated as one access point, but could be two if preferred to create an egress only point. Vehicular drive is close to the pond.
• Less visibility of the new STEM building from the new entrance; however an interesting axis is created between the existing house and the STEM building with the pond in the middle.
• Poor pedestrian access from the new STEM building to the existing house and grounds for shared use of facilities.
• Circulation is somewhat less clear to drop-off at STEM for first time visitors.
• There is approximately 20’+ of grade difference from side to side to address either via building design or earthwork.
• Bus/ service access is indicated as Versailles Road, using the existing access point. This could be accommodated from Mason Headley, with reuse of part of the existing drive / roadway to access the service side of the STEM building
• Bus loop will require grade work.
• Ample area for parking adjacent to the building with little grade work required.
• Existing garage and metal barn could remain.
• Playground directly adjacent to the building; playfields more remote.

Option C2 (STEM + Elementary) notes:

• Preservation of the existing home and the majority of the existing grounds.
• Preservation of the existing pond, removal of part of the wooded area for the STEM building development
• Vehicular/ car access is from Mason Headley. This is indicated as one access point, but could be two if preferred to create an egress only point. Vehicular drive is close to the pond.
• Less visibility of the new STEM building from the new entrance; however an interesting axis is created between the existing house and the STEM building with the pond in the middle.
• Good visibility of the elementary school.
• Excellent pedestrian access from the new STEM building to the existing house and grounds for shared use of facilities.
• Good wayfinding and clear circulation for STEM; elementary school may be less clear.
• Poor pedestrian access from the new STEM building to the existing house and grounds for shared use of facilities.
• Good pedestrian access from elementary school to existing building and grounds, but this is likely less desirable for the elementary school program than for STEM.
• Circulation is somewhat less clear to drop-off at STEM for first time visitors.
• There is approximately 20’+ of grade difference from side to side of the STEM building to address either via building design or earthwork.
• The elementary school is somewhat flatter, approximately 12′ grade difference.
• Bus/ service access is indicated as Versailles Road, using the existing access point. This could be accommodated from Mason Headley, with reuse of part of the existing drive / roadway to access the service side of the STEM building
• Bus loop will require grade work.
• Ample parking for STEM, more limited parking for the elementary school.
• Playground areas adjacent to both schools (elementary school could utilize grounds adjacent to the house).

Read more:

• School board proposes school lunch hike just months after buying 35 acre Webb estate at 360% above assessed value
• Drone video shows sprawling site of future FCPS all-girls’ STEM school
• BREAKING: State Board of Education releases docs on mansion purchase exclusively to Lexington Times
• Husband of FCPS superintendent abruptly resigned own TX superintendency in 2020; investigation shared with FBI