Hampton High School remodeling could benefit learning, safety

Published: Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014, 9:01p.m.

Hampton Township School District officials are discussing a potential large-scale remodeling project at the high school that could cost as much as $10 million.

Administrators and school board members hosted a meeting on Jan. 27 with township residents and two architects from VEBH Architects to discuss ideas for remodeling the school.

We have not made any decisions. We have not spent any money. Even our architect is here pro bono, Superintendent John Hoover said.

During the presentation, Hampton High School Principal Jeff Finch identified areas of concern that administrators identified and upgrades that could improve energy consumption, security or education at the high school, where there currently are 1,098 students enrolled.

The major areas of improvement include relocating the main office and establishing a captured vestibule to direct visitors directly into the main office to increase safety; consolidating all the guidance services in one site; updating the technology infrastructure; alleviating congested hallways; establishing a project-based learning lab to focus on science, technology, engineering, arts and math, or STEAM initiatives; updating the science labs, especially chemistry; and increasing storage for a number of departments. Finch also provided an additional list of areas for improvement.

Tom Durkin and Dan Engen, principals with VEBH, provided a number of architectural options for the various areas of concern to get the board to consider options and generate more questions.

There is a lot to address, so the question is, Where to now?' Durkin said. It might be too soon to talk about numbers; it's very early in the process. The most important aspect of this project is a plan.

Engen said the architects do not yet have all of the information needed to make suggestions for quality solutions.

Durkin said if the school board decides to move forward with exploring the remodeling plan further, administrators and architects first would have to meet with all of the user groups to summarize the educational needs and then develop conceptual studies and alternatives and cost estimates. The administration and school board would have to review that information.

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Hampton High School remodeling could benefit learning, safety