speculation about Lamar's overcrowding and new attention to the school's need for new facilities. In 2007, 22% of high-school-age children zoned to Lamar chose to attend a different Houston ISD school. In 2010 Lamar, which has a capacity of 2,525, was 740 students over capacity. In 2010 Magnet Schools of America, a nonprofit, released a report recommending that Lamar's magnet program be abolished, due to overcrowding. In 2014 Terry Grier stated that Lamar should reduce its enrollment to around 3,000 students. Rita Graves, previously principal at Roberts Elementary and Pin Oak Middle School, became the principal of Lamar in August 2018 arriving as the transition to the construction of the new building began. In 2018, the HISD Bond project announced a $108 million construction and renovation plan for the building. The plan includes major renovations to the existing historically significant portions of the north building and an entirely new classroom and instructional facility. As of 2019 the construction is near completion. Campus The campus is located on the southern end of River Oaks Boulevard. The Lamar High School campus consists of four buildings, a baseball field, a football field, and tennis courts. The North Building is a four-story building (including the basement level) which was the original building built in 1936. It consists of many classrooms, the main office, attendance office, magnet office, International Baccalaureate office, special education office, auditorium, band room, cooking room, and the choir room. It was built in a distinctive Art Deco style. The building was made of Texas limestone and the windows are the steel ribbon style. It consists of a single central block with the Ned S. Holmes Auditorium at the western end. The entrance to the theater is decorated by a relief map of Texas that indicates the state's mountain ranges and escarpment John F. Staub and Kenneth Franzheim designed it, while Lamar Q. Cato, Louis A. Glover, and Harry D. Payne assisted. An Italian American, Eraclito "Nino" Lenarduzzi, designed the map on the auditorium. Anna Mod, author of Building Modern Houston, wrote that the theater entrance uses "a more monumental and severe Moderne style". The current addition began construction in 2017 and opened in 2020, with classrooms divided into eight "neighborhoods" a.k.a. "cohorts" and a snack bar which students may use at any time. This is in lieu of a central cafeteria. The addition has an atmosphere of a corporate work environment.