Construction Corner
Progress Updates from Admin
With the major progress in finishing yet another semester, there have also been some major steps in the construction of the new Kilgore High School. From the tennis courts to the soccer field, the changes in our school have been noticeable. There are still some uncertainties concerning the construction that’s already being done and is to come in the future. The following is an interview with Principal April Cox about the construction and the future of KHS.
Q: How do you feel about the excitement that’s been stirring within not only the students but also the community as they see the progress?
A: You can visually start seeing some transformations start taking place. I think that’s evident with our tennis courts across the street, back here at our track, and on our turf field is being created and you can see that. Then we have the new building. That’s the construction building that our company RLM has which will be the building that they will be housed in throughout our building process. I think that what’s really exciting is that you can see that each week we’re even going to see more and more progression. So, while we’ve been able to see some initial things happen, those foundational pieces are starting to take place. Throughout the next few months, we’re going to see a lot more happen. Our groundbreaking is going to happen on Dec. 20, so we’re also excited about that.
Q: Are there any special features that you think will cause even more excitement?
A: At our groundbreaking, I know we want this to be a very celebratory event, something that is inclusive with all of our community members, all of our students, from the littles at elementary all the way up to even our alumni. We want them to be a part of this because even though they might not be attending school here, this is still their high school and this is still a big event for them. We want the community to feel that connectivity to the build. We want the community to feel that ownership. Even though students may not have walked those halls, it’s still a place that they can call home. While the building might look different, we want to continue the same traditions and the same things that we feel like makes Kilgore High School what it is. I think this is going to be a really neat event that is going to get to encompass a lot of different student groups, community people, and people who have even made this possible. This took voting to happen, so we take pride in this and we want to make sure that everyone has a chance to be represented by this. It is a neat time to come together.
Q: Are there plans for one set parking lot in the future?
A: Right now we have multiple parking spaces that are located around our school. Some, you have to cross over a busy street to get to the parking lot. Something that we’ve really wanted was for all of our students to not have to cross over a street so that the parking lot would be on the current design of the footprint of the land. We have, I think, created an area where we’ll have one student parking lot that will sit where these buildings are right now, that will be torn down. That’s going to be divided by a walkway with the staff parking lot on the other side. That is what was important to us, that we try to eliminate, and for safety reasons, that need for students to have to walk around the school to go to their cars in different areas. Our goal is to have, where we’re sitting right now in my office, to be a student parking lot.
Q: Are there any attributes we’ll be keeping from the current high school?
A: There are a lot of pieces. Our bulldog is a focal point of who we are, I mean you can see as you walk into our building that’s just one of our nostalgic pieces. That’s who we are, and we want to keep those things. We don’t want those things to just go away because we’re in a new building. The planning committee has been very thoughtful in figuring out what we can keep that will still have that ‘Kilgore Bulldog’ feeling, and what are some things that we can incorporate into the new building. One thing that we like, and we’re very different, we have red roofs here. We want to keep that red roof. We have, if you’ve noticed down our hallways, arches. We want that to stay. That’s been something that through that design phase, and that process, and getting that input from people within the community, our students, and our staff. We want some of those things that say ‘this is Kilgore’ to remain, so I think you’ll see that within the design features.