The Olympia middle and high school campus in Stanford is undergoing construction for a 30,000 square foot addition.
A new athletics space, three agriculture classrooms and a new home for the unit office will all be included in the project, which is slated to be completed before the 2027-28 school year begins.
The add-on will cost about $15 million, mostly paid for by the 2024 tax swap — which allowed for an increase in the district’s operations and maintenance fund without changing the overall tax rate — but also with the County Schools Facility Sales Tax.
A new gym space with a fieldhouse design will provide ample space for sports teams. Lack of space regularly forces middle and high school teams to hold practice sessions at district elementary schools in Atlanta, Danvers and Minier.
“It's been a long time since we've been able to do something like this on this campus, and we've been talking about a field house; as someone who has grown up here, we've been talking about this for years,” said Superintendent Laura O’Donnell. “And to finally be able to see it come to fruition, it's very exciting.”
O’Donnell added the extra time it takes to bus students to the other communities takes away valuable practice time.
The location was attractive because of how close to the school’s outdoor athletic spaces it is. It also was attractive because the project is tacked onto an existing building. If that were not the case, it would have required another referendum to be approved by voters.
“So it made sense in terms of central location, in terms of access,” said O’Donnell.
“I think it's important for our taxpayers to know that their tax rates aren't going to change based on the construction of this project,” said Andy Walsh, assistant superintendent.
Locker room overhaul
The school is also undergoing construction to update four locker rooms that date back to 1973. Separate from the new add-on, the project is another phase of the pool overhaul the district began last year. One locker room will become a general athletics space to help sports like football, baseball and softball, which require bigger lockers than the old space had.
“So they'll have bigger lockers, fewer lockers, but at least they'll be able to store their stuff in those locker rooms,” said O’Donnell.
Two physical education locker rooms will also be renovated, but without changing locker size.
Previously, the school had two swim locker rooms and two more for PE
