Ground broken on new Madison High School gymnasium, stadium and classrooms
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REXBURG — Madison School District 321 administrators, teachers and students gathered at the northeastern corner of Madison High School Wednesday afternoon for a groundbreaking ceremony intended for several new construction projects.
A 1,000 seating capacity gymnasium is to be added to the high school to add more seating for sporting and other events. Their main gym currently seats 2,400. Ten new classrooms are also being built, along with two science labs, an outdoor football stadium, four soccer fields and a baseball complex.
District Superintendent Geoff Thomas says these projects are necessary to keep up with increasing student enrollment.
“We’re (seeing an increase) of about 100 students a year,” Thomas says. “It’s been very steady but progressive growth. There’s always a challenge with growth but we like those challenges.”
The new gymnasium will be located on the northeastern side of the school and the classrooms and science labs will be built on the northwest side.
Construction for these projects is already underway. This has been in the works for three or four years. Thomas says he is grateful to the patrons, students, staff and administration.
“The school board has been visionary. When they make decisions, it’s always based upon the student’s needs and that’s wonderful.”
Voters approved a $27 million bond for this project with an 81.6-percent majority vote last August. Holly Allen, a member of the school board, said during the groundbreaking this was the second largest bond majority in state history.
“The community wants this and is ready for it. We’re very excited,” Allen said.
Headwaters Construction along with JRW & Associates are the contractors for the project. Thomas says they hope to have the classrooms and science labs completed by December or January. The gymnasium and football stadium are slated for completion in August 2019.
