What will eventually be the new classroom building and entrance for Bend High School looks like a dirt field undergoing a science project. Concrete slabs sit side by side with pipes and connections, waiting for a floor, walls and the rest of the building.

The underground work, mostly on the site of the school’s old baseball field, is largely done, and project manager Mike Condon will now turn his attention to bringing the project upward in January.

What’s been done since September?

In addition to the demolition, the summer was spent tying up impacted loose ends, such as creating a temporary wall and a covered walkway so students could walk to class safely. Essentially, the goal was to make sure campus was functional during construction.

The summer and fall were spent on rock hammering work, which is now almost finished, said Condon. Underground utilities, footings and foundations have also been put in this fall.

“Most of the building’s going to be polished concrete,” said Condon. “It’s really durable, it’s low maintenance.”

All the flooring will be polished concrete, aside from some offices and music spaces with carpet.

The new building will run on natural gas boilers and an electric air source heat pump system, said Condon. The building will include air conditioning in part due to the rise of smoke from wildfire activity in the past few years. The building’s height is also a factor.

“With this being a three-story building, we were concerned that heat might be more of an issue than it is in other buildings,” Condon said.

The project is set to be completely finished by 2028. The first phase — the classroom building, the commons, and the main office area — is on schedule and will be finished by 2026. Most of the school’s classrooms will be in the building that is currently under construction.

“That’s one of the really nice things about this project, because even though we’re not going to be done until fall of 2028, and it’s going to have an impact on the school until then, it is nice that at least there’s a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel for students and staff that are here now that in two years most of them are going to be living in a brand-new space,” said Condon.

The Bend High staff have been great to work with, he said.

“We’ve been really pleased with just how supportive they’ve been of everything for the project so far,” Condon said. “They’ve been understanding of what we’re up against.”

Design of later phases

The design of the later project phases is still being worked on as the first phase is built. The later phases are for the athletic spaces, including the gym, health classrooms, locker rooms and health lab, and the fine arts spaces, including construction of a new auditorium after it was unexpectedly demolished during the summer.

In order to simplify the process and ensure that the new auditorium can be built on the same timeline as the rest of the bond work, Condon and his team decided to combine what were originally the final two phases, athletics and fine arts, into one, and begin construction on them together. Everything will be finished by fall 2028.

The project has been smooth going so far, with no surprises, said Condon. The work will continue over winter break. New door locks will also be put in at Summit High School over the winter break. Students return Monday.

Bend High students attend class amid construction this year