PHOTOGRAPHER- BRENNA BARKLEY
School District 51 (D51) has officially started preparing for renovations of Grand Junction High School (GJHS). The school’s 128-year history spans for three centuries and a major jump in population.
ANA HOLGUIN GOMEZ – EDUCATION EDITOR
Grand Junction High School has been located on three different campuses over the past years. The current building is currently located 1400 N. Fifth St. and was built to last 75 years. Emily Shockley, Public Information Officer for School District 51, explains “GJHS was built in 1955 and was expected to last 75 years, based on normal wear and tear of a building of that size with hundreds of students and staff using it each day. The foundation issues were not anticipated, but exist because construction practices at the time only anchored the foundation to clay soil.” Modern construction practices are more advanced and were made to prevent the issues GJHS is experiencing now. Current construction practices work by anchoring the foundation to shale using concrete-filled pillars that go down deeper than the current foundation.Due to shifts in the soil below the school, the foundation has started sinking, causing a multitude of issues including, fractures on the walls and floors, a lacking HVAC system, mice and cockroach infestations and others issues.
Despite the constant headache of issues, this is a good thing. At the moment GJHS is not just one building. It’s seven buildings; “[this] poses a security risk, as students need to go from building to building for classes and there are dozens of unsecured doors on campus so students can get from class to class” Shockley says. The new building would be under one roof and have one main and open entrance.
“There would be more ways to get in and out of the school, but they would be locked from the outside for security reasons. The one unlocked entrance would gain access to an office/waiting area, but visitors would have to be buzzed through by a staff member in order to gain entry to the rest of the building through a second set of locked doors. This setup is called a security vestibule, and it is common in most of our schools” Shockley says.
At the moment there is no true date to start reconstruction, due to the fact that D51 does not have the right amount of funds for the re-build. In 2019 a bond measure was proposed, but the voters said no. Because of this the district is applying for a BEST (Building Excellent Schools Today) grant from the state for a new GJHS. These grants supply matching funds, but don’t cover the entire cost of a new re-build.
“There is no official ballot question to try again, but D51 School Board members are discussing the possibility of returning to voters to ask for a property tax increase to finance a new GJHS through bonds” Shockley says.
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