North Eugene High School featured in The Register-Guard
Construction continues on the new North Eugene High School west of the present high school building. Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard.
What's done, in progress and changing with Eugene 4J bond projects?
By Jordyn Brown
April 14, 2022
The Eugene School District is making progress on its bond projects that are being funded by a $319.3 million bond measure — the largest in Lane County history — approved by Eugene residents in November 2018.
The process also has had some ongoing hiccups, with COVID-19 affecting many of the projects by increasing costs for construction and supplies over the past two years. For example, the Yujin Gakuen Japanese Immersion School community last month learned that co-locating in the same building as Kelly Middle School may not be temporary, as they were led to believe years ago after having to move in.
“We have money to finish North (Eugene High School). We have money to finish Edison. We have money to finish Gilham,” Interim Superintendent Cydney Vandercar said at the March board meeting. “Most all of them are over budget due to just constraints from COVID, and then the longer we wait to get (Camas Ridge) started, the more the escalation goes up.”
The Eugene School District put it forward on the promise of upgrading every school in the district in some way, including complete rebuilds of North Eugene High School, Camas Ridge Elementary and Edison Elementary.
Here’s the latest on each of the district's major building projects.
North Eugene High School
Project basics: Demolition of Silver Lea building, build new high school in its place on west end of property. Leave former NEHS standing and renovate for use by other programs.
Cost: Original estimate was $135 million, new estimate is $139.9 million.
Status: Construction underway, on schedule, with projected opening fall 2023.
The district demolished the nearly 60-year-old Silver Lea facility in summer 2020 to make room for the new NEHS. This building previously housed the Yujin Gakuen Japanese Immersion School and Corridor Elementary programs. Construction began in 2021.
The new high school was designed by Rowell Brokaw Architects / Opsis Architecture, with community input. Lease Crutcher Lewis is the general contractor on the project.
Rendering of the entry to the future North Eugene High School, expected to open in fall 2023.
The outside of the building is quickly taking shape. The structural steel went up in December, forming the skeleton of the building. On March 21, workers were seen adding metal panels to the exterior, as part of the energy-efficient “building envelope (made of) overlapping materials of exterior sheathing, vapor barriers and increased insulation.” This creates a building that stays cool in summer and warm in the winter, the district explained. Some windows also appeared to be up, as well as brick veneer siding.
The project is still on track to be completed for use in the 2023-2024 school year….
Milestone Celebration. Photos courtesy of Lease Crutcher Lewis.
From left to right: Jim Collins (Rowell Brokaw), Nana Ochiai (Catena), Fearn Smith (Opsis), Joe Baldwin (Opsis), Mark Young (Rowell Brokaw), and Patrick Hannah (Rowell Brokaw).
[To read about the other projects discussed in the article, please follow this link.]