YUHSD celebrates building projects; offices, high school are on the way
Along with the rolling dirt and rumbling machinery, celebration was in the air Thursday morning at the site of the new Yuma Union High School District Administration offices and Vista High School and Learning Center.
“Today is very special to our governing board and district,” said YUHSD governing board president Phil Townsend in prepared remarks for the groundbreaking ceremony.
More than 30 community representatives from San Luis, Somerton, Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, the city of Yuma and others were on hand to break ground on the $15.5 million project, which includes a new campus for Vista High School.
Vista opened in 1991, Townsend said, in four portable buildings before moving to the old post office on Virginia Avenue. Its current site, a former church, is on 26th Place.
The new building shows the district’s commitment to “every student,
especially and including those with unique challenges which make them at-risk for dropping out,” Townsend continued.
This year, the alternative school graduated 168 students, said Principal Laura Campbell, who noted that she is eager for the new campus to open in the fall of 2018.
BWS Architects/Thompson Design Architects are designing the Vista and DAO buildings on the site, with the CORE Construction building the project. Schematics for the buildings show split levels for several of the buildings, including three levels for the DAO building, and two levels for Vista. Vista will feature several classrooms, an art room, administration offices and a multipurpose cafeteria.
Liz Rullo, of Arcadis, an engineering, consultancy and management firm working on the project, said part of the building would be sunk into the side of the hill at Avenue A and 32nd Street.
The projected opening date for Vista is the fall of 2018. The city of Yuma has issued permits and ground has been moving for several weeks. The project is part of the district’s $79.5 million bond initiative that voters approved in November of 2015.