AMES, Iowa — It has been four years since residents in Ames voted to build a new high school. Now, it's nearly complete.
The new school is taking shape in what was the parking lot of the current school.
Gerry Peters, the director of facilities, planning, and management, is leading the project for Ames Community School District.
"This is what an auditorium looks like before we start putting the sheetrock on the wall, so you can kind of see the skeleton of it," Peters told Local 5 as he gave us a look inside the new building.
He describes the new school as state-of-the-art in many ways and said it may not be what students and educators are quite used to.
"The gymnasium, the auditorium, the music spaces, the classroom layout and design is different than what historically or what the previous school has," he said.
One example is that classrooms are grouped in what are being called pods.
"In the middle of each pod... are these collaborative spaces," said Eric Smidt, director of communications for the district. "They can be quiet rooms where students can get together and really just work together."
Safety is also a key design feature. A secured vestibule helps limit access to the building, and individual classroom pods can be secured to limit access within different parts of the building.
A bond referendum back in 2018 made this new building possible. It passed overwhelmingly, with more than 80% of voters in favor.
"I think it speaks to our Ames community on how much they value education and how much they support the building of this new facility that will impact our community, our students for decades to come," Smidt said.
District leaders say the current school is at capacity with more than 1,400 students. The new school can be expanded to accommodate about 1,800 students.
Inside the project's so-called "mission control," a wall of sticky notes serves as a roadmap to completion. Peters said the project is on track to be ready for students next school year.
"It's gonna be the fastest few months, there's a lot of things that yet need to be done," Peters said. "I'm really anxious to be able to see that final reality and being able to accomplish this magnificent goal is going to be satisfying, so my emotion is excitement."
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