Positioning new JHS gym proving difficult
JEFFERSON school leaders are still trying to determine just where to put the system’s bond-funded, multi-million dollar high school gym as pre-construction planning continues.
Superintendent John Jackson compared the situation to fitting a Christmas tree into the corner of a living room.
“I guess the best analogy that I can give you is, have you ever gone out and sawed down a Christmas tree that you thought would be perfect until you got it home?”
The location and elevation are two big questions school leaders face as they determine where to situate the facility, which is part of a bond-funded $25 million construction package.
Other projects in addition to the gym include a new academic wing, cafeteria and kitchen at the elementary school and a new, two-story academic building and new kitchen at the high school. The locations of those additions have already been determined. The gym’s has not. So that’s where most of the discussion is currently.
“The gym is a much bigger deal,” Jackson said. “So right now, the focus has been on elevations and locations.
Jackson said there’s been some discussion, too, about the amenities of the interior the gym. That would affect gym size, which in turn affects the building’s location.
Jackson was to meet Friday and look at a model of the proposed gym as well as a layout of the high school campus
“So we can take that model and slide it around to see how it would best fit in these areas out here that we’re talking about building,” Jackson said. “But that task is proving to be a lot easier said than done.”
“I guess the best analogy that I can give you is, have you ever gone out and sawed down a Christmas tree that you thought would be perfect until you got it home?”
The location and elevation are two big questions school leaders face as they determine where to situate the facility, which is part of a bond-funded $25 million construction package.
Other projects in addition to the gym include a new academic wing, cafeteria and kitchen at the elementary school and a new, two-story academic building and new kitchen at the high school. The locations of those additions have already been determined. The gym’s has not. So that’s where most of the discussion is currently.
“The gym is a much bigger deal,” Jackson said. “So right now, the focus has been on elevations and locations.
Jackson said there’s been some discussion, too, about the amenities of the interior the gym. That would affect gym size, which in turn affects the building’s location.
Jackson was to meet Friday and look at a model of the proposed gym as well as a layout of the high school campus
“So we can take that model and slide it around to see how it would best fit in these areas out here that we’re talking about building,” Jackson said. “But that task is proving to be a lot easier said than done.”
in front between main building and HWY 129 OR
across train tracks in front of elementary
school; either position would take advantage of existing parking lot