The Santa Maria High School campus is undergoing a big change with the addition of a two-story building to provide more classrooms and other learning facilities.
Construction began late last year on the prominent new building, which sits at the front of campus in the 900 block of South Broadway between the school’s administration building and the historic Ethel Pope Auditorium.
The 26,000-square-foot structure will house 14 learning areas and 10 classrooms, Santa Maria Joint Union High School District officials said. The building will have rooms for band and choir students to use.
The project also includes an outdoor performance area and restrooms.
“Construction at the … Broadway project is moving along very well and remains on schedule for completion in April,” said Gary Wuitschick, the district’s director of support services.
District officials said the new building’s architectural design will complement the other buildings on the oldest high school campus in the Santa Maria Valley.
While designed to match the older architecture, the structure will feature some modern touches such as solar power and LED lighting.
The project’s price tag is $12 million, with most of the funding coming from Measure C, a $79-million bond measure Santa Maria voters approved in 2004.
Other Measure C projects in the district include a new yet-to-be-built high school and a performing arts center under construction at Pioneer Valley High School. Righetti and Santa Maria high schools also will get new swimming pools.
In another project, the district’s Board of Trustees recently approved the conversion of a warehouse at the Skyway Drive office location into a professional development center or multipurpose room.
The “building within a building” will feature 1,500 square feet with room to seat up to 200 people and is meant to accommodate board meetings, training and community meetings.
In addition to being too small, the district’s current boardroom is cramped and lacking adequate temperature control systems, district officials said.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.