madison high school is ready

Posted: Monday, August 23, 2010 11:19 pm | Updated: 11:35 pm, Mon Aug 23, 2010.

NATE SUNDERLAND nsunderland@uvsj.com 

REXBURG - Measuring at 225,000 square feet and with a cost calculated at about $37 million as of June 30, the new Madison High School is a state-of-the-art, well-planned and meticulously laid out campus built to serve the growing needs of Rexburg and its surrounding communities for years to come.

Classes begin Wednesday, and although there are still some organizational and housekeeping issues, construction on the campus is nearly complete.

"We are ready and good to go," said Principal Rodger Hampton. "All of the instructional areas are ready to go."

The only major construction that remains is the new 1,200-seat, acoustically designed auditorium, which sports a more than 60-foot stage and a large orchestra pit. The school is waiting on a large shipment of seats before the project can be complete, hopefully by mid-October.

Hampton said that overall he's very pleased with the school.

"It's been done right," he said. "It was designed for the needs of the community - the arts, vocational, academics and P.E. have all been planned for."

The high school site is made up of three main buildings.

The main high school contains two gymnasiums, classrooms for the arts and academics, science labs, computer labs, a media center/library, the auditorium, locker rooms, counseling center, school office, band/orchestra/choir rooms and a cafeteria or commons area.

All of the school's 1,450 lockers are also in this building.

The 25,000-square-foot vocational building holds shops for welding, auto body, small engine repair, a lab for aquaculture, agriculture and shops for woodworking and computer drafting. The building also includes a lab for horticulture. Greenhouses and orchards are to be planted behind the vocational building.

The third building on the site is a release-time seminary building, which was constructed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

A significant area has been designated for further growth, including the eventual addition of a football stadium and other athletic courts. The school is also designed for future academic additions.

The parking lot now has 450 spaces allotted for students, up from 375 spaces in the old high school. There are also 70 spaces for faculty and staff.

Much of the design of the campus came from faculty feedback.

"We worked with the staff closely," said Brent McFarland, the project architect with JRW Associates. "Once we had that component, the design and planning went very well. I am very pleased with the overall project - the quality of the work is very high."

The entire project was budgeted at $48.1 million - most of which was to be obtained through a $40.5 million and a $19.5 million school bond, the latter of which was passed by voters in November 2008.

The bonds also went toward the construction of the South Fork and Burton Elementary Schools.

District Business Manager Varr Snedaker said the project looks to be well under budget with only about $37 million spent since the end of June, although expenses will continue to be accrued until the project is completely finished.

During a tour of the building, Superintendent Geoffrey Thomas said that the greatest emotion he feels about the construction is gratitude.

"It's a challenging thing to get a two-thirds of the community to tax themselves voluntarily to pay for a high school and elementary schools," said Thomas. "I'm very grateful for that. It's a wonderful thing."

An open house for the building will be scheduled once the auditorium is complete.

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About the school

• 225,000 square feet (up from 160,000 square feet),
• Floors are built with polished cement and stone for easy cleaning, and the walls are graffiti resistant
• 450 student-parking spots (up from 375 spots), in addition to 70 faculty slots.
• 1,450 lockers for students
• 1,200-person (up from 550-person), acoustically designed auditorium with stadium seating.
• Commons area with five serving stations and expanded food menus to encourage students to stay on campus.
• Connected to the school district's fiber optics and WiFi networks.
• 160 security cameras
• ADA-compliant with three elevators.

Athletics

• A two-story main gymnasium, which includes a basketball court and an indoor track. This gym is significantly bigger than the previous Madison High School gym and boosts a capacity of 2,400-person bleacher seating. The bleachers are only accessible from the second story, to reduce scuffing the gym floor.
• A smaller auxiliary gym. Both gyms have a high ceiling to prevent stray balls from getting stuck in the ceiling.
• Two boy's changing rooms and two girl's changing rooms so that visiting teams do not have to use the changing rooms of another gender.
• An expanded co-ed weight room, a dance studio and a expanded wrestling room have also been included in the new school.

Arts/Academics

• A band room and an orchestra room both of which are nearly double the size of their counterparts in the old Madison High School. Both are also equipped with extra storage and practice rooms.
• A new choir room built without windows to keep the vocal acoustics pure.
• 5 computer labs, many with new monitors.
• 5 science labs, with state-of-the-art equipment
• A large media center/library
• Expanded home economics rooms.
• Expanded special needs and life skills classrooms

Vocational

• Shops, labs and classrooms for welding, auto body, small engine repair, computer and drafting, horticulture, aquaculture (raising fish), agriculture and woodworking (furniture and house-building).
• Both shops are significantly bigger than the ones in the old high school.
• Will include several greenhouses and a fruit orchard, which will grow produce that will be sold to the cafeteria.
• Self-enclosed ventilated spray paint room.