San Luis school gets its gymnasium 35 years after opening
SAN LUIS, Ariz. – Rio Colorado Elementary School opened here 35 years ago without a library or gymnasium for students.
Nearly two decades later it got its library. And soon it will have its gym.
The Gadsden Elementary School District recently broke ground in cosntruction of 6,105-square-foot building that will house the gym.
“This is very exciting,” said Bethany Loucks, the school principal. “The children will be able to take their physical education classes in an area that is air-conditioned.”
Located on the northwest corner of the school located at 1055 N. Main St., the building will also be used for music classes and school meetings and events.
“When we have meetings with parents and teachers, we do them in the cafeteria,” Loucks said. “There’s not enough space there and people hardly fit in there. For (student) promotions and other events, we sometimes use the (school) yard or we ask to borrow the gymnasium at San Luis Middle School or (the city’s) cultural center.”
The gym is part of a package of construction projects totaling nearly $2.9 million that are taking place at Rio Colorado and San Luis Middle School. At the middle school, work is underway on a 9,365-square-foot building that will house eight classrooms and a lab.
The projects, funded by bonds approved by voters in 2015, are being done by Pilkington Construction of Yuma. Both are scheduled to be completed in June and be ready for student use in the 2021-22 school year.
The gym is the second largest addition to the Rio Colorado campus since its opening to students in August 1985. The school library was built in 2002.
Loucks says the gym will go a long way in meeting the renovation needs of the 35-year-old school campus.
“The school will be more attractive,” she said. “Our students and the community have deserved this gymnasium for many years.”