School Renovations

Many eyebrows have raised and word has flown around about the renovations being made during the next few school years at Martinsville High School. People have been wondering, “How will I69 effect our school?”, “What is going on with this new siding?”, and “What other changes are we going to see?” After some clarifications with Dr. Nick Sears, we have confirmed that some huge changes will be made to our school. We will be seeing a handful of renovations within the next school year alone. Martinsville High School was given a $2,000,000 grant to allow these renovations to take place.

Outside of the building, students have already begun to notice the huge load of siding being kept in the band practice lot, and the construction workers beginning to put the siding on the building. This new siding will be a more cream, off-white color, and the panels will be horizontal rather than vertical. Sears hopes this will give the school a more modern and attractive appeal. The trim on the panels will be blue to carry out school spirit, and will correspond well with the new signs that will be placed on the building in replacement of the old wooden signs we have now. These new signs will be electric and will be lit up with our school’s two colors, red and blue. Sears hopes these changes will bring more positive attention to our school as cars pass on highway 37, what will soon be I69. MHS is looking at the siding project being done in a time frame of six months, and the signs being put up after the siding is finished.

Inside of the building, many changes will be seen as well. Our gym has always been well-known for how hot it is, but in the next couple school years, our school will finally have air conditioning in the gym. “I think it will be a lot better for graduation because it’s times like that where the no-AC situation gets really bad,” said Dr. Sears. Improvements will also be made in the auditorium where Sears said they plan to replace the dilapidated, creaky catwalk. They also plan to replace the sound system and redo the pit where musicians perform during plays and events. The science department will also see some new surroundings as the science rooms will be renovated to more modern, up-to-date rooms.

Word has already spread around the halls that MHS’s future senior classes will have a senior lounge area. For this to happen, Sears plans on taking three classrooms and making it one larger area. “It will be a privileged area for the upperclassmen. There will be something like a coffee or barista bar and comfy areas for our seniors to sit and work on whatever they need to do or prepare for. It will represent more of a college lounge atmosphere,” said Dr. Sears. Students will be able to visit this area during lunch or possibly after school. Sears hopes this lounge will prepare students for the new college atmosphere they will soon be taking on and will show our upperclassmen appreciation.

Everyone has been curious as to what will be affected by the new interstate being placed right where 37 now is. As far as we know, the band practice lot does not stand a whole lot of chance to stay where it is currently. The bus traffic will also be affected, and we are expecting to see a lot of changes as far as bus routes go. Along with a new flow of traffic, Sears said we may also have to change the location of the front entrance. All of these changes are not set in stone, but are predicted to be the obstacles we will face due to I69 in the next couple school years.