Architects present WV plans
Flow is not the first word that comes to mind when one pictures students navigating the halls of a high school. But good flow is one of the West Valley School District’s goals as it plans to remodel West Valley High.
“I like the traffic patterns,” school board member Jim Williams said after looking over the future layout of the school Wednesday.
Northwest Architectural Company presented the plans, which give a general picture of where the library, the commons area, the gyms and the other parts of the building will sit once the project is completed around the fall of 2007. Although the drawings only designate spaces and provide few details, mental images of the school’s future are already stirring excitement among district officials.
One of the major changes involves establishing a main entrance to the school at the corner of Vista Road and Buckeye Avenue. Currently, it’s difficult to determine where to enter the building.
“It’s going to give the school a very strong presence on the corner,” architect Keith Comes said.
At that corner, the school will erect a two-story marble and granite archway that once greeted students at the original West Valley High School at Trent and Argonne. That building was torn down in 1993.
“We may use it as an art piece before you go into the entrance,” Superintendent Dave Smith said. “It’s quite a piece.”
Once inside, students will be flanked by the administration offices and they will look ahead to a courtyard. The commons, an art classroom and other rooms will surround the open-air space.
“(The courtyard) allows students to spill over outside, but still be contained in the school,” Comes said.
A separate entrance, on the school’s north end, will lead to a new gymnasium, the football stadium and other athletic facilities.
A weight room will be built on the second floor with a glass wall overlooking the track, field and mountains to the northeast.
“That will be a nice space to work out,” Comes said.
A new library will sit on the first floor between the main entrance and the athletic entrance in the school’s west corridor.
Its ceiling will be a story and a half high, and windows will allow light to pour in.
The theater will be in the middle of the school, just north of the commons, and it will have more seating and a larger backstage area.
The building’s east corridor will continue to house classrooms, as will most of the second story.
The next phase of work on the project involves filling in some of the details, Smith said.
The district has incorporated public input into the work so far and plans to have community meetings in August and September.
The district will mail patrons a copy of the conceptual plan, Smith said.
Voters passed a 20-year, $35 million bond in May to renovate the high school, build additions to the district’s four elementary schools and complete maintenance work on its two middle schools.