Local News in Brief : Laguna Beach : Firm Picked to Redesign Laguna Beach High

The long-awaited renovation of Laguna Beach High School moved closer to reality Tuesday when the school board selected a San Diego architectural firm to draft designs and seek a contractor for the $4-million to $7-million project.

The school’s entire campus will be renovated to place academic facilities on one side of Park Avenue and recreational facilities on the other, Supt. Dennis Smith said. Students cross the busy street every day to get to class.

Trustees of the Laguna Beach Unified School District moved to hire Milfred, Wayne & Donaldson of San Diego to do design work on the 53-year-old school, which has not been renovated since 1959, Smith said.

Work is expected to begin in August, 1990. The academic portion--consisting of a two- to three-tiered building with a new courtyard and media center--should be completed by 1991 and the recreational section by August, 1992.

Residents will have access to the new recreational facilities, which will include a pool, tennis courts, locker rooms, a parking area and a newly renovated artists’ theater, Smith said. The architect will solicit ideas for the design of the recreational section from residents.

Smith said the district had to wait for the sale of its $3-million Alta Laguna property in the Top of the World neighborhood before it could move ahead with the renovation. That sale, plus money from the $2.7-million sale of the Aliso School property, provided the district with enough money for the renovation. The city of Laguna Beach will fund part of the recreational center.