SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Springdale Public Schools will see an update to some of their oldest buildings with a $140 million project underway.
According to Director of Communications Trent Jones, construction has already started at Central, Southwest, and Springdale High.
"We're completely rebuilding Central and Southwest," said Jones.
The director says they'll be keeping some components like the existing gyms at the junior highs for the new buildings. He also explains that the district looked for specific artifacts that would preserve the school's history.
"We've connected the past and the present and the future by just making sure that we take different kinds of artifacts and pieces of history and we continue it on through this construction," said Jones.
At Springdale High School, the BLATT building or "Flat" Building, nicknamed for its flat roof, had already been torn down. The old Gymnasium would also be torn down, as a new Physical Education complex would sit next to the football stadium. Jones says many students are impacted by the memories made in school.
"Almost every single person you'll talk to has a direct relationship or direct memory with an adult and education that set them on a path," said Jones.
According to their website, Central Jr High's facility on Huntsville was built in 1976. Southwest Jr. high's website says its building was built in 1967. Springdale's history page says their flat building was once used as the high school, being constructed in 1952. It was later used as Central Jr high it eventually returned to use by the high school when the Huntsville building was constructed.
"When you look at some of these facilities they've been around a long time and they have served well and they've done a good job but it was time it's time to modernize, it's time to create more space, it's time to evolve the facilities the same way educations evolving," said Jones.
For renderings of the new buildings and construction updates, you can visit the school district's page.
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