Construction is starting on improved Lake Stevens High School

LAKE STEVENS — Painted purple lines in front of Lake Stevens High School outline the planned locations of new buildings.

Construction is set to start in June on a three-story classroom building, a student hub and an athletic building. They are part of an $87 million high school upgrade.

Voters in 2016 approved a $116 million bond for the high school overhaul and a new elementary and preschool.

Work on the high school is scheduled to start June 16, the day after classes let out. The campus is expected to be closed through August, though the stadium and track will be accessible. The tennis courts are a staging ground for construction crews and will not be usable until the project is done, district spokeswoman Jayme Taylor said.

Work is expected to finish in 2020. It will be done in phases while students are in school, as well as in the summer.

Once complete, the school will have new or updated spaces for science, music, athletics and special education. Security is being improved, restrooms overhauled and systems for heating, ventilation and electricity redone. There will be a new roof, parking areas and bus loading zone.

An existing school building also will be renovated. It will be connected to the new classroom building by a hub that includes offices as well as the student store.

The pool area also is closing for renovations. It is getting a new mechanical room, entrance, locker rooms, office space, staff area and a team room that can double as an event rental space. There also will be a single-occupancy restroom and shower, improved deck and seating area, and more storage.

Like the rest of the campus, the pool closes June 16. The goal is to reopen it for students and athletes in mid-August. It likely won’t reopen for public use, such as swim lessons, open swims and rentals, until fall 2019.

“We had really tried to exhaust all options to continue running programs for our community, but because the public locker rooms are being demolished, we don’t have places for public use,” Taylor said. The public cannot use student locker rooms because of security and privacy concerns.

Plans for the second phase of construction have not been finalized, but should include continued work on the pool area and renovations of existing buildings, Taylor said.

Parking will be limited during construction, and a parking plan is expected to go out soon to students, staff and families. The goal is to do the messy, loud work during the summer, when it won’t disrupt classes, Taylor said.

As the district grows, Cavelero Mid High is expected to one day become a second high school. However, that won’t happen for at least another decade. A new middle school and boundary adjustments would be necessary.

“We would need to ask voters to approve a bond to build a new middle school, so they would have plenty of notice,” Taylor said. “We are not making any plans to do that until the bond that funded the building of Cavelero falls off. It’s just too much to ask our taxpayers.”

High school construction updates will be available online at lkstevens.wednet.edu and in the district’s electronic newsletter.

Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.