A new K-8 school in Providence will replace Fogarty Elementary. Here's what to know.

PROVIDENCE − The Mary Fogarty Elementary School in South Providence will soon be demolished and a new kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school built in its place, largely in the same footprint.

The Providence City Plan Commission on Tuesday gave its second round of approvals for the new school, which will utilize the recently renovated park next door for students.

The school, bounded by Oxford, Ocean and Sayles streets, is set to be demolished later this year and the new school is set to open in its place by September 2026, project architect Luis A. Torrado said.

The new building (at 199 Oxford St. ) will sit mainly in the 56,000-square-foot footprint of the old school , on the 2.3-acre lot, but the parking area will be moved and the new school will be taller, going up to three stories instead of the current school's two stories.

City planners asked for more greenery and shrubs, which have been added to the front of the building in a new set of plans.

How big will the new school be?

The new school will serve a lot more students with the addition of three new grades, increasing the student population from an estimated 450 to 810.

The seventh- and eighth-grade classes would be on the third floor in two "towers," while the remainder of the building would be two stories. There will be three separate playgrounds for the various age groups, including the use of the park.

The new school will have a 29-space parking lot (22 spaces are required) and is expected to have 66 employees and 48 bike spaces.

What will traffic look like?

Traffic engineer Derek Hug said a new traffic analysis was conducted before school closed for the year (it is now closed until the opening of the new building), and during morning peak hours, there would be extra traffic on Eddy Street as people try to turn onto Oxford Street.

"If the delays creep up, people will find other ways to get around, and we suspect the delays we're showing in the report won't materialize as we anticipated," Hug said.

What happens to public access?

While no one from the public spoke for or against the school, the main concern of commissioners was public access to the park, something that the architects presenting the project couldn't speak to, as they didn't know what the school district would do.

The park is closed to the public during school hours on school days for the exclusive use of students, and closes at 9 p.m., like all parks in Providence.

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Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter .

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: A new K-8 school in Providence will replace Fogarty Elementary. Here's what to know.