Photography by Dianne Carroll Burdick
Wyoming — A $33 million two-story addition and renovation at Wyoming Junior High School is well underway, and the soccer stadium and track nearing completion.
The major project funded by the passage of the May 2022 bond, the junior high will soon resemble the new high school building with high ceilings, open areas and technology to meet the needs of seventh- and eighth-graders.
“It’s going to give the students nice learning spaces,” said Matt Lewis, associate superintendent of Wyoming Public Schools. “It’s really going to mirror the high school design with open, collaborative spaces.”
The project, designed by GMB Architecture+Engineering with construction by The Christman Company, will be nearly complete with the addition ready for students in fall 2024. After that, portions of the existing building will be demolished. The oldest section dates back to 1927, with most of the structure built in the 1950s and 1970s. Major renovation of the fine arts center will begin this winter.
Work Continues District-wide
Construction also continues at West Elementary and Wyoming Intermediate schools to make room for a regional program serving emotionally impaired students. The district recently sold to Kent ISD the Wyoming Community Education building, 3600 Byron Center Ave. SW, where the program was housed, and those students have been moved to West, Wyoming Intermediate and Wyoming Junior High. West and Wyoming Intermediate schools have undergone renovations including a woodshop conversion at the Intermediate into a classroom suite to make room for students from the EI program.
At West, an old ticket booth/concessions room into a restroom for the students and office renovations for program staff are planned as well.
Much more work is planned at Wyoming Intermediate School, which enrolls fifth-and sixth-graders. About 10 million in renovations is planned for 2024 and 2025, including updated classrooms, mechanical upgrades, a cafeteria expansion, new windows and security. The building has already received new furniture school-wide.
By 2025, the district will have invested about $110 million into its facilities. The community first approved the $79.5 million bond in 2017.
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