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The plans for Community High School’s back lawn, designed by architects at SmithGroup. The reconstruction is scheduled to be completed in the Spring of 2019, but has been pushed back a few weeks due to the already ongoing construction project on North Fifth Avenue and Detroit Street.

Beginning in 2018, the city of Ann Arbor began the process of reconstructing the historic streets behind Community High School. It was only after the construction was well underway that news of upcoming enhancements to Community’s back lawn began.

In April of 2018 the City of Ann Arbor partnered up with the architectural firm, SmithGroup, and the Downtown Development Authority to begin their “Pave the Way” reconstruction project which will restore the historic brick roads of North Fifth Avenue and Detroit Street. Though their intentions were well meant, and in the long run will be beneficial, students of Community in the 2018-2019 school year have found their way into school hampered by a “gift” given to them by the city: an updated back lawn.

According to Community teacher, Courtney Kiley—who is also the wife of one of the architects working on the project—the city decided to add the restoration and renovation aspects on Community’s back lawn to the project’s agenda as a way of making up for interfering in the daily lives of students and teachers.

Now, as Community’s back lawn has been upended and taken over by construction workers for reasons still unclear to Community students, students still have trouble in managing to find necessary parking at or near the school.

“It sucks,” said Community Senior, Leah Fleming, who is forced to drive in early every day just to find a parking spot before they’re all taken.

This is not to say that the back lawn update isn’t appreciated by Community students. As Fleming later added, “It seems like a pretty cool plan. Like, they actually want to make it nice out there.”

According to plans published on the Fifth & Detroit Construction Project Facebook page on Sept. 11, 2018, the city not only plans to add a regulation half-court size basketball court to the back lawn, but also a new rain garden—and in the proper place this time. They also plan to install picnic tables and seating for students to enjoy during lunch and their free blocks, as well as planting new trees to replace the ones that were torn down during earlier construction.

Although, concern about the timeline of the reconstruction is mounting for Community seniors, as many worry they’ll graduate before being able to see the end result of the construction.

“I think it’ll turn out really nice,” senior Juliette Snyder said. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to see it. It keeps getting pushed back and pushed back. I don’t know if they’ll work through the winter, so maybe I won’t get to see it this year.”