Bowling Green High School completes construction, unveils new campus

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - After over five years of planning, demolition and construction, Bowling Green High School hosted an open house and grand opening of their new facilities, revealing state-of-the-art classrooms, labs and common spaces.

Bowling Green Independent Schools Superintendent Gary Fields recounted that the most frequently requested change from the old school to the new one was spaces for students and faculty to collaborate and congregate outside of class time.

“I think the thing that all kids and staff wanted from the old building, they wanted common spaces, they were really important. We had an iconic ‘commons’ in the old building, and so that was kind of what we started with. Today we had our grand opening in the new commons area with the ‘social staircase’,” said Fields.

The building itself measures almost 300,000 square feet, with classrooms and hallways forming a ⅕ mile perimeter around the internal courtyard, which is inaccessible from outside the building. Fields says that unique challenges were presented in building the school on the footprint of the old school, which was built in the early 1970′s, with additional obstacles added in the midst of a pandemic and in the wake of the tornadoes in 2021.

“So we had to figure out a way to build a new building while at the same time, continue to have school in the old building,” Fields explained. “So, it took a lot of creativity, we have some great architects and construction managers, and our faculty and staff here and students have been great.”

The end result boasts new labs, a medical classroom outfitted with an ambulance, state-of-the-art drafting equipment and collaborative spaces spread throughout the campus.

“I think throughout the building you see that collaboration aspect, where it’s not just for students, but it’s teachers collaborating with each other, students collaborating with teachers, and students collaborating with students,” Fields said.

The main building and courtyard are now complete, though Fields explained that in the next year and a half, the campus will see a new area vocational center, on-site daycare for staff and new tennis courts.

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