Dr. Larry Horton
District 55 Supt.
Two years ago the citizens of Sweet Home passed an $18 million bond project to upgrade the community schools. The largest portion of work was scheduled at the Sweet Home High School. Last year saw the completion of a new athletic facility that highlighted an architectural design that used bricks and rough-cut colored blocks to create a beautiful facility of which the students, staff and community can all be most proud.
This year the project has focused on the wing of the high school that fronts Long Street. Throughout the summer the crews from Highland Construction worked on the demolition portion of the project. By the start of the school year the construction phase was under way. The first portion of the construction saw the walls of the new Linn-Benton Community College’s addition go up.
LBCC will have three new classrooms located at the east end of the new facility. This will be a great opportunity for our high school students to access college courses as well as provide our citizens with a permanent college facility.
The rest of the facility will house new classrooms, a media center, a cafeteria, a student commons area and administrative offices. The brick walls are near completion and the new roof will be done by the first of the year. The brick and block work will extended across the auditorium so it will tie the entire project together and give the appearance of a totally new facility. In this process, the mural on the auditorium wall will be bricked over. According to Pat Stineff, high school principal, a photograph has been taken of the mural and will be enlarged and displayed somewhere on campus so as to preserve this work of art. The creation of a new mural is also being discussed.
This project is on schedule to be completed by the start of school next September. This project would not have occurred had it not been for the caring citizens of Sweet Home. This facility will add greatly to this community. Not only will it be a positive for our children, with the new college addition, it will be a positive for all of our citizens. It will also help in attracting new businesses and residents. The first question a prospective newcomer asks is, “What are the schools like in the area?”
Our community has invested in our schools and in our youth. This says volumes about Sweet Home and I believe the investment is a good choice.
I encourage you to drive by the high school and take a look. I think you will like what you see. Happy holidays from Sweet Home School District #55!