By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The new high school taking shape on West Poe Road reaches deep underground, stretches three stories high, and is spreading educational opportunities in the process – all while 1,300 students are being educated right next door.
After a month of programs recognizing inspiring teachers from Bowling Green City Schools, the Bowling Green Kiwanis Club was further inspired on Thursday by a virtual tour of the new high school rising from the former parking lot on West Poe Road.
Superintendent Ted Haselman said he still recalls the words spoken by then school board president Norm Geer at the ground breaking. “This is a monument to what can happen when a community believes in its youth,” he said.
After years of planning, the construction started in March of last year, when digging began on the geothermal wells which will warm and cool the building. A total of 140 wells, 300-feet deep, are projected to save the district about $500,000 a year on operational costs, Haselman said.
Ground was broken on May 1, then dirt was hauled to the site to elevate the ground level by about two feet. And in early September, the district presented a construction update for the community.
Aside from one major change to the construction plans – of replacing a steep and expensive roof with a flatter and less costly roof, the building was true to the plans made with community input.
“It was what was presented to the community in 2023,” Haselman said. “This is a community building.”
In November, the concrete was poured, and in December, steel beams started rising from the ground.
Along the way, the district has made an effort to share the excitement with students and staff, who were invited to sign a steel beam that will be part of the new school’s academic wing.
“We wanted to make sure we were celebrating this,” Haselman said.
The construction crews have been on the site every workday, he said, marveling at the endurance of the ironworkers who didn’t miss a day despite frigid temperatures, and only left early one day due to high winds.
Now the students and teachers are getting involved with the project again, with two high school classrooms testing furniture for durability and flexibility.
As with any teacher always looking for educational opportunities, Bowling Green City School District is making the most of the new school building taking shape on the campus of the current high school. Haselman said plans are underway to bring tradespeople and engineers into the classrooms so students can learn about their professions and this project. And walking field trips to the new building will be scheduled.
“We would totally be remiss if we did not use that real world experience happening 100 yards away,” he said.
And as he concludes each update on the new building, Haselman told the Kiwanis members that the project continues to be “on budget and on time” to be in operation by the fall of 2027.
The superintendent also talked about the next building plans in the district focusing on the aging elementaries. The Ohio Facilities Construction Commission previously ruled that neither Conneaut or Kenwood elementaries are worthy of sinking more money into renovations.
That isn’t going to change, Haselman said.
“The elementaries are still the same facilities” – still outdated and still not worth further investment, he said.
At a special meeting on Wednesday, the school board gave Haselman authority to negotiate a contract with a design firm to study elementary building options and costs. The top firm selected was DLR, which designed the new high school.
“The board of education is not committed,” to any specific plan for the elementaries, he said. The goal is to “determine what is best for our community,” he said.
