CARLSBAD — School district officials, local students and parents celebrated the groundbreaking of Carlsbad’s newest high school at an official ceremony held Oct. 14.
Dozens attended the ceremony to witness the ceremonial toss of dirt — which marked the beginning phase of construction — by student representatives from local schools and the Carlsbad Unified School District board of trustees.
“This is a great day in the community of Carlsbad,” Carlsbad Unified School District President Mark Tanner said. “We want wonderful physical facilities in our community.”
The 139,000-square-foot facility is slated for construction at Cannon Road and College Boulevard and should be completed by Spring 2013, District Superintendent John Roach said.
“We’ll move in the furniture and if we choose to, we can have kids start for summer school to test out the building,” Roach said. “It will officially open for the 2013-2014 school year.”
The $104 million project was funded through Proposition P, which allotted taxpayer money for improvement and construction of Carlsbad schools, Tanner said.
The state of California matched $21 million to Carlsbad’s $83 million in local bonds for the new high school. Construction totals $76 million of the budget, with an additional $5 million to furnish the facility.
It will alleviate overcrowding at Carlsbad High School, which is currently undergoing extensive renovations, by absorbing up to 1,500 students, Tanner said.
“This means that there will be two places for kids to be on a soccer team, to be on the school newspaper, to get involved,” Tanner said. “Kids who are involved in high school typically do better.”
The campus will include 57 teaching stations; a stadium with seating for 3,000; synthetic turf and track; baseball and softball fields; four basketball courts; six tennis courts and a 745-space parking lot.
An official name, mascot and curriculum have yet to be solidified, but will be discussed as the school’s campus is closer to completion.
“We do know that it’ll be a wonderful school with strong academics,” Tanner said. “This is going to be tremendous.”
San Diego-based Barnhart Balfour Beatty is the project contractor, while Gafcon, Inc. is acting as program manager. Roesling Nakamura Terada Architects, “the most environmentally sensitive architects we could find,” designed
the modern campus, Roach said.
“Carlsbad is such a close-knit community and after the tragedy at Kelly, this is really something to celebrate,” parent Kathy Huemoeller said. “It’ll be an asset to the community; it was worth taxpayer money.”
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