CARLSBAD - The public got its first glimpse of the proposed layouts of a rebuilt Carlsbad High School and a new high school when architects unveiled preliminary site plans Wednesday night.

In all, the $86 million plan to renovate Carlsbad High School calls for eight new buildings and a new stadium. Eight existing buildings will remain, and all of the original buildings will be razed.

Under the plan, Carlsbad High School's sophomore, junior and senior classrooms - all new buildings - will line Lancer Way between the existing Carlsbad Community Arts Center and the Carlsbad Community Pool, said Rob Todd, the district's director of construction. Ninth-graders may be housed on the far side of the campus in the existing 3000 building.

Todd emphasized that the plans are likely to change as planners work through the challenges of two complex projects.

Plans show a performing arts and technology building will wrap around the existing Community Arts Center. Current plans include interior glass walls to create "showcase" rooms that will allow students to see watch film and video production activities, Principal Maggie Stanchi said.

A new Lancer Stadium is planned along Basswood Avenue near the northeast corner of the campus at Lancer Way. Bleachers for 1,000 visitors and 4,000 home fans will line the stadium. The nine-lane track will surround a playing field of synthetic turf. Plans include a press box, scoreboard, lights and sound system.

The plan presented Wednesday represents a change in thinking.

Originally, planners envisioned classrooms at the southwest corner of the campus. The new plan would save between $800,000 and $2 million in rental costs for relocatable classrooms required to house students during construction, according to school officials.

Trustees raised several questions about the plan for a single 500-space parking lot on the southwest corner of campus at Lancer Way and Chestnut Avenue.

Trustee Mark Tanner raised the issue by noting that parents and students attending football games at Carlsbad High would have to walk end to end through the campus. Other board members raised concerns about snarled traffic as students try to move on and off campus en masse before and after school.

The board urged planners to rethink the design and return with new recommendations.

District planners also presented site plans for the high school to be built at the northeast corner of College Boulevard and Cannon Road.

The city's newest public high school will cascade down three terraced levels of a 52-acre hillside, according to preliminary architectural plans.

From College Boulevard, the slope of the property rises to a hilltop about 500 feet above. The preliminary site plans show three classrooms fanned out among a trio of granite outcroppings at the top of the hill.

Administrative offices, the cafeteria and some athletic facilities would occupy the middle level down the hill. More athletic fields and parking lots would be near the base of the hill.

The district plans construction of the $95 million school in two phases. The first phase, planned for 1,500 students, would begin in mid-2009 with planned completion in mid-2011.

In other action, the board reorganized -as it does every year during the last meeting in December. Elisa Williamson, a trustee since 2000, was selected to replace Trustee Kelli Moors as president. Nicole Pappas will be the vice president.

The district also hosted a coffee-and-cookies reception for volunteers who worked at the evacuation center at Carlsbad High School during October's Witch Creek fire. After the reception, Superintendent John Roach and the board presented more than 80 volunteers with certificates of appreciation.

Roach noted the many local businesses and individuals who donated goods "that far exceeded the needs" of the evacuation center. Leftover items were donated to Brother Benno's, Roach said.

- Contact Philip K. Ireland at (760) 901-4043 or online at pireland@nctimes.com.