Granger High tour gives a sneak peek into the new campus

Construction of the new Granger High School has been going for a while and on Jan. 9, local officials, school board members and other community leaders had the chance to see the progress up close. The tour was organized by Sen., Karen Mayne, who represents West Valley in District 5.

“I’m excited because I graduated from Granger; I’m a Lancer,” she said. “It’s wonderful to see this jewel of the community coming together. This will be a place for all of us – for learning, education, gathering, and the arts. This will be the centerpiece of West Valley. We are the second largest city and we deserve this and need it.”

The new school is a $40 million project that will feature a performing arts center, an athletic field house and three wings of academic classroom space. The football field was unveiled last fall and the new baseball field will be ready for the Lancers this spring.

The school won’t be complete until June 2013 and will open for students for the 2013/2014 school year. Mayne said she wanted to give community leaders the opportunity to watch the progress throughout the construction process. Several more tours are planned.

“It’s such a grandiose building. It’s nice to see it grow and prosper,” Mayne said. “As we do that, and bring community leaders together, we can rejoice when it’s finished. It’s a great day for the west side of the valley and West Valley City.”

Mayor Mike Winder and City Councilman Steve Buhler were on hand for the tour. Buhler said he was very pleased with the progress that was being made. Not only is it important to show local leaders, but to also spread the word around the community about how the building is coming along, he said.

“It’s great to see a beautiful new school with all the new facilities it’s going to offer,” he said. “It gives a sense of excitement to the children and parents in this community to know that the school district will invest this kind of money and quality into our community. We are excited to start coming here and being a part of the new Granger.”

Granite School District Architect Brad Malm led the tour, which started in the performing arts complex. As workers smoothed concrete for the seating area, Malm highlighted some of the unusual aspects of this area, such as the large stage and backstage area and the concert hall acoustics that will be installed later.

The tour took visitors through the area where the classrooms will be, the large commons area and ended in the athletics complex. Sarah Meier is one of the Granite School Board members and said being able to see the start of this project generated a lot of excitement for her and the rest of the board.

“This is going to be a great educational facility for the students who go here. It will also be a centerpiece for the city as well,” she said. “I’m glad Sen. Mayne organized the tour because it helps us focus on where we are, where we’ve been and where we’re going.”