AMES, Iowa — "Back to school" has a new meaning at Ames High School. The students might've gotten an early look during the first few days of the school year, but on Saturday, community members got to see their new high school brought to life.
In 2018, Ames voters passed a $137 million referendum to fund construction of the new facility by a margin of more than 80%. Four years later, as administrators officially cut the ribbon on the new high school, all the hard work seemed worth it.
"While the structure itself is something to marvel at, what I find the most exciting is the power of the learning environments that created that were created on the inside," said Dr. Julius Lawson, superintendent of the Ames Community School District.
The new high school, located on Ridgewood Avenue, is built to fit 1,600 students, and there's room to add additional classrooms that could increase that to as many as 1,800. The district is currently just shy of 1,500.
One big theme for all the changes—safety. Classroom pods can be locked off to limit movement, and there's a lot less ways for someone to get inside. The previous high school had more than 177 entrances.
"There's less than a quarter of the doors in this building than there was in the other building," said Gerry Peters, director of facilities for the district. "So that's a good accomplishment that helps with safety and security."
There's still a little bit of work left to be done as the school year goes on. Things such as a greenhouse and an additional parking lot need to be added. But for the most part, everything is ready, and district officials had plenty of thanks to give to the voters who made the upgrade possible.
"You made it happen. You provided them right here with was one of the most outstanding learning environments ever," said former superintendent Dr. Tim Taylor.
The former Ames High School building will be empty for a little while. According to the district, it will eventually be torn down sometime in the fall and replaced with extra practice fields next spring.