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PHOTOS: Take a Peek at Plans for the New Middle School at 75 Morton St.

 An official from the School Construction Authority presented a plan for the new middle school to parents at the LGBT Center Monday night.
75 Morton Plans Unveiled
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WEST VILLAGE — City officials and community leaders unveiled plans Monday night for the new middle school being built at 75 Morton St.

The school is on track to open in the fall of 2017, according to Melanie La Rocca, chief of staff to the president & CEO of the School Construction Authority, the city agency that builds new schools.

La Rocca presented renderings of the school's interior and exterior at the LGBT Center on West 13th Street Monday night to a roomful of local parents. She highlighted how the agency plans to enlarge the building's windows "to their historic context," situating the cafeteria "in a sun-drenched part of the building."

The cafeteria, on the ground floor, is designed "for kids to have lunch, hang out, do whatever middle schoolers do best," La Rocca said, to some giggles from parents who wisecracked, "Let's hope not."

The school will also have, after some lobbying from local parents, an "enlarged library," La Rocca said. It will feature "wonderful windows that are going to make this space really pop and be a wonderful space for the kids."

The "gymnatorium" — a large gymnasium that includes a full stage and can also be used as an auditorium" — also has airy windows facing Morton Street, as well as retractable bleachers on the east-facing wall, and it is big enough to be divided in half for simultaneous events.

The hallways will be done in hues of yellow, pale green and dark blue, according to the renderings.

The second floor of the seven-story school will be designated for District 75 students with special needs, and the basement will hold a community-based health center, due to a push by Councilman Corey Johnson.

The health center will provide primary care, dental, vision and mental health services exclusively to the school's students, the councilman said.

La Rocca said there is still "a lot of demolition work that has to be done in this building, and that is starting."