Kofa High School undergoing campus modernization project
Renovations at Kofa High School will help bring a sense of place to the nearly 60-year-old campus.
Community members, district staff, educators, students, and design and construction team members kicked off a $12 million renovation project at the end of January that will unify the campus, which has been expanded through different designs eras throughout its history.
Renovations done in 2008-2009 featured a maroon, tan, white and green color scheme, according to previous articles in the Yuma Sun, and the next phase will use the same color sampling, according to the campus master plan.
Partnering with Arcadis Project Management and McCarthy Building Companies, DLR Group’s design includes the construction of two new buildings and the remodel of four existing facilities to create a cohesive high school campus serving more than 2,000 students, the district said in a news release. The old “tin gym” will also meet its end and tennis courts are slated to take its place. A new auxiliary gym will be built near the Ernest Rillos Gym to provide modern space for athletics and physical education activities.
The new gym and updates to the CTE building are part of a renovated student hub, which houses the cafeteria, new culinary arts classroom, campus bookstore, student store, and a restaurant with outdoor seating, YUHSD said. The design adds a new active zone south of the hub to create synergies between Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses such as personal training, athletics, nursing, physical education and health classes.
Spaces in the active zone serve dual purposes. For instance, the wrestling room also will be used for police takedown training; the strength training area will be utilized by students completing the physical therapy certification program; and the nursing program will share spaces with the EMT certification program.
“The heart of the campus, figuratively and literally, is the student hub. We’ve incorporated socializing, dining, student laptop support, and a student store as a focal point on campus,” said DLR Group Principal Pam Loeffelman, FAIA. “Our design also centrally locates athletics to consolidate the campus footprint and reduce travel time from one end of the site to the other.”
A new 19,000-square-foot classroom building will feature 21st century academic and lab spaces with updated technology and flexible features, YUHSD said. DLR Group designers incorporated sliding glass doors and folding marker board walls, allowing students and educators to easily modify spaces to accommodate a variety of large group exercises or individual and small group study. Transparency through windows and glass walls provides continuous supervision when learning spills out from the classroom into collaboration areas.
“The flexibility of our new classrooms will allow students and teachers opportunities to explore creative and versatile instructional strategies within a collaborative and independent learning environment not easily afforded through traditional classrooms,” KHS Principal Mike Sharp said.
McCarthy Building Companies will seek to do most of the heavy work during the summer and “off weeks” of instruction, in order to interrupt as little as possible, the company has reiterated to the district governing board several times.
Kofa High School will remain in operation throughout the phased construction process, and is scheduled to be completed in 2019.
“Working with the Yuma community to help make their vision for the renovations at Kofa High School a reality has been rewarding for our design and construction team,” said David Peterson, McCarthy Building Companies educational services leader. “The long-awaited project is bringing new and improved amenities to the students, teachers and staff at Kofa and will have a very positive impact on the learning environment. We’re proud to be part of the project!”
Additional renovations include the kitchen/cafeteria, classrooms, and a new training lab with visual connections to the training classroom in the Career and Technical Education building.