Combining old with new

Two wise old owls that spent almost 70 years greeting students have come out of retirement.

The stone owls will once again welcome West Valley High School students when they return in September.

On Friday, Dick Tresko and Bob Crnich of Tresko Monument carefully installed these symbols of learning high atop the two-story granite and marble archway that was part of the original West Valley High School, built in 1924.

The archway was dismantled and put in storage when the school at Trent and Argonne was torn down in 1993. The owls were placed in safekeeping in the district’s administration building. The historic archway will be incorporated into the school’s new glass-enclosed entrance hall, part of a modernization project that began a year ago.

The owls will remain safely covered until they are revealed at an open house in late August.

“There’s no way we could build this (archway) now. You’ll never find something like this anywhere else. It’s a piece of art,” said Dave Smith, project manager for the renovation and former district superintendent.

Portions of granite from the old school will be used in the new West Valley High School sign on the corner of Buckeye and Vista, and other portions will be integrated into a fountain bench in the school’s exterior courtyard.

“I think the community really appreciates that we were able to save the history of the school,” said Peggy Cannon, assistant project manager.

Preservation of the school’s rich history has been creatively balanced with innovation to transform the 45-year-old building into a state-of-the-art school.

In 2004, West Valley voters approved a $35 million construction bond for the two-year renovation of the high school and to remodel four district elementary schools; $11 million has been put aside for this remodeling and bids will probably go out in January, Smith said.

“Thankfully the bond passed the first time. Otherwise we’d be looking at a 20-25 percent increase in costs,” said Smith.

Even though the contract was $1.8 million higher than expected, the project is staying within that budget. Everything is on schedule, and Smith is pleased with the timelines.

When students return in the fall, the new events gym will be finished. Work is far enough along that you can visualize the terrazzo flooring in the lobby, the ticket booths, and the large back-lit metal sports figurines that will be displayed above the trophy cases in the entryway.

“There will be 1,880 seats in the new gym. We’re lucky to get much over 1,000 in the old gym,” said Smith.

The waiting line to the women’s restroom won’t trail out into the hallway, as there are plenty of stalls for everyone.

The new gym’s orange and black sound panels will make it acoustically pleasing, unlike the current “Thunder Dome” gym where the noise can be deafening.

Students will return to new locker rooms, very different from the 1960s locker rooms they’ve been using.

“The old locker rooms are like an old Model T Ford. The new ones are like a real nice Mustang,” said Smith.

The east wall of the second-floor fitness and weight room has floor-to-ceiling windows. Gazing out at the mountains may make trudging on the treadmill more bearable for students.

There’s a clear view of the sports fields below. During inclement weather, spectators may want to watch football games from this room, Smith said.

Currently there are 13 portables on the school grounds, but in the fall there will be only six, as students return to completed classrooms in the south wing.

The project should move quickly over the summer months as crews will be working two 10-hour shifts each day.

Students in the school’s leadership class were recently asked how they would classify the construction experience from 1-10. “Universally it was between 7.5 and 8. Much higher than I expected,” said Smith.

The students said the worse thing was dealing with the cold when the heating system went out as lines were being moved.

The best thing was courtesy and friendliness of the Garco construction crew and subcontractors in the building.

“They’re always very polite. They move out of the way, just great people.

“The neighbors have really been great to work with. We’ve had some challenges with the parking situation. Next year will be better,” said Smith.