BUILDING FOR SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY - Kennedy Bibliothek

) The Thomas Jefferson Junior High School and Community Center in
Arlington, Virginia (see Figure 2)
37. The Thomas Jefferson Center (ToJ.) in Arlington, a middle-class
suburb of Washington, D.C, took nearly eight years to build. In 1966,
the current and future needs of the Jefferson attendance area were first
studied by a citizens' committee; in 1969, the first bond issue for a single
building was defeated; and in the same year, two separate bond issues, one
for a 4.5 million dollar school and another for a 2.5 million dollar
recreation facility, were passed. Funds were subsequently combined for a
single facility.
38. Similarly to the HRC in Pontiac, the T.J. under a desegregation order
joined and replaced one predominantly black and one white junior high school
and alleviated a social services deficit, through providing a multi-use
facility together with the county recreation department. An additional
reason for the co-operative venture was the necessity for a large enough
site. Both agencies, in fact, were competing for the same site before they
realised the potential for joining resources by integrating educational and
recreational uses.
39. The seed money for programming the center in this case, provided by
the Educational Facilities Laboratories, paid for a two day agency-oriented
charette (seven months after the critical bond issue had been passed).
During the charette, which was organised by the Board of Education, lectures
and discussions among panelists and general participants on the various
ways and intentions of agency co-operation played a dominant role.
40. In 1973, T„J. opened its doors to students and community members.
Through agreement between the two main users - the Board of Education and
the Recreation Department - the multi-use facility has been programmed and
organisationally supported in such a way that it is open to different users
from morning to night and seven days a week.
41. The highly transient student population of Arlington (30% of the
students leave every year), a decrease of minority students, and a fairly
middle to upper middle-class social structure naturally produce a radically
different type and set of problems than those encountered in Pontiac with
its deficit of social services (Table 2, Column 1-3). The organisational
and architectural solutions, therefore, are quite different (Tables 3 and
4).
42. Due possibly to the middle-class social structure, T.J„ has been
extremely successful in reaching the goal of desegregation. In this
respect, TGJ. has a unique place in this study - not only within the context
of the three large purpose-built centers; it is the only facility
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