For years, leaders in the Whitehaven community dreamed of giving local students a state-of-the-art science and technology facility.
On Wednesday, that vision became reality as Memphis-Shelby County Schools and the Herbert family cut the ribbon on the new James Herbert STEM Center at Whitehaven High School — a $9 million, privately funded project designed to bring students fully into the 21st century.
“This is 20,000 square feet, two stories, seven labs including that robotics ‘STEM-nasium,’” said Richard J. Meyer, a local attorney who led the project through Whitehaven STEM Inc. “We’re thrilled to finally open these doors.”
The two-story brick facility bears the name of Jim Herbert, a 1958 Whitehaven High alumnus who went on to found a multibillion-dollar financial services firm in Michigan. Before his death, Herbert and his wife Judy pledged a major gift to give back to the school and community that shaped him.
“Jim’s dad graduated from Whitehaven, and every time we came back, Jim wanted to walk through the school,” said Judy Herbert, who flew with family to Memphis for the unveiling. “Years ago a principal told us students were getting college offers but couldn’t stay because they were lacking in STEM preparation.
“We walked away saying, ‘We ought to do something,’” she said.
Yet, as the ribbon cutting approached, some residents questioned whether the finished project matched its price tag.
Meyer: ‘There’s no discrepancy’
Early estimates for the Herbert STEM Center called for a 25,000-square-foot building costing $9.5 million; a city building permit later listed the construction value at just under $8 million.
Concerns were first raised by members of the Whitehaven Empowerment Zone, a community advisory group that had partnered on the project. Meyer says that apparent gap is easily explained.
“There’s no discrepancy,” he told TSD in an exclusive interview. “The $7.9 million on the permit is just the hard cost — what you pay the contractor for the steel, the concrete, the bricks. Everything else — architecture, utilities, equipment — are soft costs that aren’t reflected on that permit.”
Meyer said the full project total remains close to $9 million once architect and fiscal-agent fees, Memphis Light Gas & Water hookups, and specialized lab gear are included. All expenditures, he said, were reviewed and approved through the SchoolSeed Foundation, which served as fiscal agent.
And then, there was COVID-19. Consumers may remember pandemic-related inflation, but rising costs weren’t limited to groceries and retail, said Vince McCaskill, president and CEO of SchoolSeed.
“The reality is, prior to the pandemic, to build any facility in Memphis, in Shelby County, it’s gonna cost you about $250 a square foot,” McCaskill said. “Then the pandemic hit, COVID hit, inflation hit, and everybody felt it in the stores. So if you felt it in the stores, can you imagine what that cost would be with construction materials? So it went from $250 per square foot to $400 per square foot.”
Like Meyer, McCaskill pointed to the “soft costs” of construction and why the building has a smaller footprint than initially planned.
“For a general contractor to begin building a building, you have to have an architect, get the land surveyed . . . all these things that have to be done for permits and encoding before a general contractor can begin,” he said. “And for this project, we also had to fundraise. You’ve got to raise money, and there’s a cost to all of that.
“Many people don’t understand (construction costs) because they’ve never done it before,” he continued. “Everybody has a right to ask a question. Just be prepared to receive the answer. It may not be the answer you like, but when you’re given an answer that’s lined up with the data, trust it. Trust the data.”
A generous gift
From the district’s perspective, the project represents the kind of partnership Memphis-Shelby County Schools hopes to replicate. Touring the building for the first time, Interim Superintendent Dr. Roderick Richmond said he was “blown away.”
“It’s exciting to see what happens when corporate, philanthropic and community partners come together,” Richmond said. “From everything I’ve reviewed, I haven’t seen any misuse of funds. We’ll make sure the process is transparent by bringing formal acceptance of this donation before the board so the public can see it.”
Richmond noted that the district must formally accept privately funded facilities under Policy 2019, which governs donations to MSCS.
“You’ll see that happen in the coming weeks,” he added. “That public transfer of property ensures everyone understands how gifts like this become part of our district portfolio.”
Meyer said that kind of openness has been a priority from the start.
“Every expenditure has been documented and approved,” Meyer said. “SchoolSeed has served as our fiscal agent from day one. When the architect or contractor submitted a pay application, we reviewed it, signed off, and SchoolSeed disbursed the funds. The superintendent’s office has complete records.”
The art of science
Inside, the Herbert STEM Center feels as much like an art museum as a laboratory. Multiple murals adorn the walls on both floors, both painted by artists with Memphis roots: Jamond Bullock and Davana Stimpson, who has two murals in the facility.
But Bullock’s rendering of noted African American scientists, subtle shout-outs to major donors on the project, and inclusion of teenage scientists is sure to capture the eyeballs of anyone entering the building.
It features images of mathematicians Benjamin Banneker and Katherine Johnson, and one honoring physicist Dr. Elmer Imes. Modern students in lab coats and familiar Whitehaven landmarks woven into an abstract portal motif. A single cicada flutters through the design, representing rebirth. “Something that was old will become new,” Bullock said.
“Some of you may see yourselves in the design,” he said. “I wanted to do some things that inspired community and STEM.”
The upstairs mural by Stimpson features two teenagers smiling as they dream of chemical equations and physics experiments.
“The art plays a vital role because that’s imagination. The classrooms are just the technical part. We’re going to empower you to know what you need to do,” McCaskill said.
“When students walk out of these classes, and they see young people who look like them in STEM coats — physicians, physicists, all of that … they come out of class, they know ‘I can be what I see.’”
