Story

This new 325,000 SF high school building was completed in August of 2005 as a LEED project, and is one of two buildings anchoring a new high school campus. West Ottawa remains one high school with two buildings on the same campus running largely parallel programs. In addition to the new building, a second building constructed in 1999, houses the high school. Students attend classes in both buildings throughout the day and are able to take advantage of the unique traits of each building. 1,560 students are based at the new building while about 1,040 are based out of the existing 245,000 SF building. The new building houses the competition gym and running track and is master planned for a future Performing Arts Center addition, while the existing building houses the swimming pool. It also provides full academic facilities for a 9th through 12th grade program. This includes nine fully equipped science labs with a shared lab prep space and greenhouse. Art studios make use of natural light and share a sculpture court. Also included in the building are state of the art technical education labs, full band/orchestra/choir programs, a television studio, a media center, and competition and auxiliary gymnasiums. An outdoor courtyard flanking the cafeteria in the center of the school acts as an outdoor classroom and gathering space for students. Numerous shared conference rooms off of the corridors provide breakout spaces for students and staff. The site improvements included two new baseball fields with press boxes, a refurbished softball field with press box, tennis courts, improved pedestrian and vehicular circulation, and landscaping improvements. The site master plan includes a new football stadium with track and additional baseball and softball fields. Design Plus provided complete site/landscape design and master planning, facility master planning, architectural design and documentation, structural engineering coordination, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection engineering, interior design, and construction observation services. The total construction cost was $38,388,675. This project received the Associated Builder & Contractor Award for Sheet Metal in 2005 and the Green Building Award in 2007.