After three years of construction and several years of planning and design prior to that, the new Ames High School in Iowa opened for the fall 2022 school semester as planned. The new high school is located east of the existing school and creates an opportunity to redefine the high school’s presence in the community, creating a welcoming hub for activities and events.

The 430,000-square-foot building with space for the current 1,500 students, a capacity for 1,600, and the capability to add more classrooms to support up to 1,800, includes a natatorium, auxiliary gyms for practice and physical education, a competition gymnasium, strength and conditioning facilities, a commons area, academic pods, career technical education spaces, a state-of-the-art auditorium, fine arts instructional space, and administrative areas.

Construction of the new high school was completed around an occupied facility and phased around the academic calendar with minimal interruptions to the operating campus. Construction began with the first phase – earthwork, site utilities, and geothermal well drilling – during the summer of 2019. Completion of the geothermal well field allowed a portion of the parking lot on top of it to be poured and used for student and staff parking throughout the remainder of construction. During this phase, the massive excavation for the new pool and gymnasium areas was completed.

The second phase of the project included construction of the primary building, reconfiguring of the stadium entrance, and demolition of the existing pool. The final phase of the new high school construction prepared the area between the new building and the existing building to serve the new school.