Here’s what Highland High School could look like in a few years
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POCATELLO — Work is moving forward on plans to rebuild parts of Highland High School damaged by a large fire last year.
The Highland High School Rebuild and Design Committee is still in the planning and development phase to rebuild the half the school that was destroyed in last April’s fire. Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25 anticipates by December or January, it will be ready to put the $64 million construction project out to bid, and estimates the rebuild will be complete in 2027.
“It’s such an exciting project,” said district spokeswoman Courtney Fisher. “(The committee is) reaching for the stars and then pulling it back to make sure that it’s really within budget and also meeting needs.”
The project is being funded through a combination of insurance money, facilities funding legislation passed in the Idaho legislature and the district’s ongoing capital improvements program. This allowed the district to ask voters to vote no on a $33 million bond measure they put on the May 22 election ballot.
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The school district released conceptual drawings and floor plans for the restored school on their website. On June 24, the school board voted to move forward with the final draft of these designs, which are expected to be released within the next couple of months.
As the designs aren’t finalized, there are still aspects of the project that could change before ground is broken and construction begins.
The designs show the destroyed half would be replaced in the footprint of the old building, with a brand new auditorium, cafeteria/commons area and a main and upper gym. The designs also show new arts classrooms, general purpose classrooms, a new kitchen and numerous areas for storage.
This auditorium design has 806 seats, a 3,956 square foot stage and an orchestral pit. The 11,850 square foot main gym is surrounded by two wrestling areas, a multi-use athletic space and a locker room area with offices for coaches.
On the upper level, there is a weight room, auxiliary gym and four separate areas for storage, one for athletics, drama, band then music. Three general purpose classrooms are also on this level.
Vice-Principal and Athletic Director Travis Bell said while operating with half of a school has brought challenges for athletics and the arts, what he has missed the most is having assemblies in the gym.
“I can’t wait to be able to get everybody back inside that big gym … and have some fun and do all those things at schools that’s a big part of school culture,” said Bell.
In addition to the indoor commons area, there’s also an outdoor commons area, with a canopy over the entrance to the new section of school.
“Those spaces will allow Highland to really come together as a community,” Fisher said.
The designs also show several of the classrooms in the still-standing portion of the building receiving a remodel.
“We won’t be able to touch every room and every space just because of budgeting constraints, but this committee was very thoughtful in its approach to improving every, every layer of Highland that they possibly can within those constraints,” Fisher said.
Not everything in these designs may come to fruition, as the designs have not been finalized. But, Bell hopes they can meet most of the goals of the Highland Rebuild Project, and he says “2027 can’t come fast enough.”
“It’s gonna be amazing for our faculty, our coaches, our students, most importantly in our community,” Bell said.
