A look at the progress of Pocatello High School addition

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) - Good weather is keeping construction moving on the new Pocatello High School addition.

On Tuesday, School District 25 Director of Business Bart Reed took Board of Trustee members on a tour through the project to show off the progress made so far.

“We’re happy to say we’ve completed most of the difficult phases of this project, you know, the infrastructure, the foundation work, a lot of the sewer, utility connection and all those sorts of things,” Reed said.

Infrastructure is nearly complete for the 9 new classrooms, common area extension, new bathrooms, elevator and hallway connecting the two existing buildings. The addition will make 85-90% of the school ADA accessible for the first time ever, Reed said.

Next on crews' agenda is constructing a roof and installing windows. The district purchased enough 5-tone reddish tan brick to seamlessly match the historic front of the building, which crews expect to begin laying in April.

The project is expected to be finished Aug. 1, 2021, according to Reed.

“We have had a few delays, so we’re hoping we’re going to stay pretty close to that timeline,” Reed said.

Students are still learning in classrooms next to the construction zone, but Reed said it hasn't caused much disruption.

“We’ve been able to keep the separation between the instructional programs this year so far. We won’t actually do the building penetrations until we don’t have students in school. So we really have not interrupted the educational process at all,” Reed said.

Pocatello High School has grown from about 900 students to currently 1,100 students in just a few years. Reed said the district estimates the student population will be somewhere around 1,300 in the near future.

"This has been a necessary addition to accommodate that growth. The students are excited about it, the faculty are excited about and I think the whole community is going to see this as wonderful addition to the downtown area," Reed said.