Montgomery County leaders gathered Friday to officially recognize a project that took 996 days to complete.
The ribbon was cut in front of a newly renovated and expanded Christiansburg High School.
School Superintendent Kelly Guempel said the project has been challenging in renovating a school like this while kids and staff were doing their normal day-to-day activities. He praised everyone involved for dealing with the construction.
The Christiansburg High School renovation project is a significant undertaking with a budget of $80 million. Groundbreaking for the expansion occurred on Oct. 24, 2023, marking the start of construction that aimed to enhance the school’s facilities significantly.
The renovation includes a new main entrance, administrative suite, a two-story classroom wing and expanded cafeteria facilities. At the heart of the project are new classrooms, which increase the capacity of the school by more than 400 students. Major upgrades include more window space – a direct opposite to the current school’s brick front.
The 222,100-square-foot school was built in 1972 and had a previous capacity of 800 students. The renovated school now has a capacity of 1,600 students. The new school provides new modern learning environments, a new front entrance, a new auxiliary gymnasium and overall improved wayfinding and organization.
Most of the work in Phase I was completed by last year, thus allowing the school to use the expanded area. Immediately afterwards work started on the second wing. In most cases, teachers and students were crunched into smaller areas until Phase II work was completed.
Some of the features for the new high school are more windows for light, wider hallways, a larger cafeteria and spacious more visual bathrooms for safety, fitted with vape detectors.
The administration suite of offices has a stairway providing quick and direct access to the counseling center and to the in-school suspension (ISS) area. The media center also provides large windows bringing in natural light, video boards and whiteboards, and collaboration and educational spaces for students to meet with each other or instructors.
The kitchen and food preparation area, along with an expansive freezer and refrigerator section, is also a highlight of the new CHS site.
School board member and CHS alum Jamie Bond said she was proud of what has been accomplished.
“We are taking the old and turning it into new,” she said.
Fellow school board member Penny Franklin pointed out the process has been challenging and ended with a beautiful facility.
Over the past two years, there were several adjustments and, according to the project’s architect, the project included 12 phases and not just the two the public had seen.
Others expressed similar observations. Principal Shane Guynn felt like he had been living under constant construction since he was appointed to the position.
“But it has been worth it,” he said, pointing to the end result. “I thank the students, teachers and my administrative staff for everything through this project.”
Guynn said it will be the future Blue Demons who will have their needs met with this high school.
“This dream dates back further than 2022, and it finally became a reality,” he concluded.
Alumni, parents and others were given a tour of the new additions shortly after the ribbon cutting.
