Centralia School District Presents Plans for Modernized High School

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The plans to modernize Centralia High School were debuted to the public during an open house-style meeting on Monday night as citizens were presented schematic designs for the project that was approved through a $74 million bond package in February that will also include two new elementary schools.

The plans will bring the high school up to current Americans With Disabilities Act standards and seismic code. It will also expand the square footage of the building.

Principal architect Lee Fenton with BLRB Architects said the current plan would expand the 137,000-square-foot building to 149,000-square-feet by infilling the various courtyards currently in the school.

A separate gym, which is currently an alternate bid proposal, would add even more square footage if it is constructed, bringing the total footprint of the building to about 160,000-square-feet.

“Our key strategy for that is infilling the small courtyards and really being much more efficient with our layout,” Fenton said, adding currently the project is in the very first phase of design.  “We’ve done the initial cost model … Now as we strive to move forward, we are going to try to accomodate the need to add the gym space within the budget. If we can’t do that, we will continue to hold that as an alternate bid, but we’ll proceed with the design so we can get the pricing for it and hopefully afford it.”

Upon completion, the modernization would eliminate the portables currently being used and would add 11 or 12 classrooms to the building, Fenton said.

For the first year of the project, students will be housed entirely in the existing and new portables that will be constructed this upcoming summer. Students will later be phased into completed portions of the building.

The art room, gym, locker rooms, kitchen and commons area will still be available to the students while they are housed in portables, Fenton said. 

Fenton said design development will continue through April. From there, additional details will be added. Permitting and final approval of the design will then follow. The contract will go out to bid in the fall of 2018 so construction can begin later in the year. 

The new high school would open completely to students in 2020. 



Plans include creating a unified space that would eliminate the various levels and slopes located in the building. The performing arts center would move to where the student pit is currently located, eliminating the current placement of the auditorium. 

The new performing arts center would have retractable seats that will stack up against the north wall. It will be contiguous with the commons area, Fenton said, but when the performing arts center is in use, the 500 seats will face the stage. 

The science, technology, engineering and mathematics space will be incorporated into the building. The classes will include additional teaching spaces and will be larger in size. 

The outside of the building will also undergo improvements with new windows, the replacement of siding and a new roof. A new secure entrance and possibly an outside waiting area will also be constructed. 

The parking configuration will remain the same, but the plan will include some access improvements and a fire lane around the perimeter of the building for safety.

Jeff Gould, the senior project manager for FORMA construction, said during construction the area will be safely fenced off from students who are in the portable buildings.

Superintendent Mark Davalos said he is excited about the progress of the building.

“The high school is moving along well,” he said. “I think they’ve made really good use of the floor space to capture our goal of eliminating the problems and implementing the STEM grant in a very robust way. We’ll see a great number of large STEM classrooms and all of our rooms are actually bigger.”

Two new K-6 schools were also included in the $74 bond measure. Fords Prairie and Jefferson Lincoln will be replaced with new schools.