By Brett McMahon
As part of an expansion and remodeling project, the St. Joe-Ogden high school has a state-of-the-art auditorium. The space, which was converted from a gymnasium, will serve the student body in many ways, from staged events to classrooms and an area to honor students.
Originally built in 1926, the school had not seen upgrades for more than three decades, prior to this project. Funding came in multiple forms, including sales tax funds, bond money, and health/life/safety funds.
Once the geothermal phase is complete, costs look to be around $6.75 million, which is nearly $300,000 under budget, according to Superintendent Brian Brooks. He says the geothermal phase will be completed during the summer of 2023 and will allow for the removal of window air conditioners and radiators in the 1926 portion of the building going into next school year.
Brooks also points out that classroom and office doors in the 1926 portion of the building will be replaced over the summer months. He says the process started back in June of 2022 with the wrestling room and weight room being substantially completed in the fall and the auditorium work just wrapping up in early February.
Since the bulk of the construction took place during summer months, Brooks said there were not a great deal of adaptations required, but did point out a few exceptions.
“We were without a weight room from June through the first semester, so we did have to relocate our weight room for the strength and conditioning classes, and our athletic teams, to an outdoor shed,” he said. “In addition, we had to close off one hallway once or twice, and re-locate a class or two at one point but other than that, it was fairly minimal disruption.”
The district knew going into the process what they were hoping for, and Brooks believes it turned out to be even more than they could have asked for.
“We had a vision of a dedicated auditorium with theatre seating, a larger stage, a small balcony, etc. that we thought would be a huge upgrade for us and a tremendous space for both our fine arts programs and our school in general to utilize,” he said. “The finished product is even better than any of us envisioned. We are extremely excited about this space for our students and our community.”
He adds that teachers will utilize the space for some classes as well as music and drama productions. The district also plans to host incoming freshman and their parents in the space over the coming years and will hold recognition ceremonies there as well.
On March 2, the new auditorium will be the hosting space for a music concert and just weeks later, it will be the scene of the Spring Musical, which is set for April 14-16.
Brooks points out that the new space for the auditorium and wrestling room allows greater opportunities for both programs as opposed to sharing space in the gymnasium. These renovations also led to the addition of a new weight room that will be utilized by virtually the entire student body.
As for Brooks’ thoughts on what the future might hold for the new space, he says “We feel that every student will be able to utilize this space in some capacity throughout their high school careers. We will probably end up using this space in ways in which we don’t anticipate right now as well.”
