Prepare to turn the ceremonial dirt at the site of the 13th and final school-improvement project that was promised to voters when a $250 million bond was approved in 2010.
A groundbreaking ceremony to herald the start of work on a renovation project at Indian Hills Middle will be at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 13. Inclement weather forced the postponement of a previously scheduled event.
Crews have already started work at the Sandy-area site, 1180 E. Sanders Road. Construction is expected to take roughly a year.
Board of Education President Sherril H. Taylor and Principal Doug Graham will speak at the community event at the school. After the ceremonial dirt is turned, refreshments will be served.
When the project is complete at the start of the 2018-2019 school year, Indian Hills students and teachers will enjoy plenty of natural light throughout the facility, six new classrooms, collaboration spaces wired for the high-tech demands of the 21st century, an expanded kitchen and cafeteria, and spacious hallways and commons areas, among other amenities.
“The patrons from Indian Hills have been so happy to watch all the building and renovation that has been going on in the District … Now, they are so thrilled that it is their turn,” President Taylor said. A completed Indian Hills, he said, “will be a far better school than it ever was before.”
Taylor also notes that Canyons has completed every project promised to the Canyons community when the bond gained passage seven years ago. In all, since 2010, the District has provided a new Corner Canyon High; a rebuilt Midvale Elementary; a renovated Albion Middle; seismic improvements to Sandy Elementary; a new Draper Park Middle; a rebuilt Butler Middle; a new Butler Elementary; additions to Brighton and Hillcrest high schools; and a rebuilt Mount Jordan Middle. Crews are now working on a new Alta View Elementary and Midvale Middle.
In addition, CSD has installed air-conditioning in every school that didn’t have it at the time of Canyons’ 2009 founding; added security vestibules at all elementary schools; completed a soccer field, tennis courts and athletic fields near Brighton High; and internal and external upgrades to Alta High.
“We have spent (the bond funds) how we promised you,” Taylor told patrons at a recent meeting of the Canyons Board of Education. “Everything we promised you has been done.”
During construction, the school community will be housed at the old Crescent View Middle, 11150 S. 300 East. Transportation services will be provided to qualifying Indian Hills students.
