Construction for Phase 2 of De Soto High School started last school year, and is now coming to its end.
The finishing of Phase 2 will bring many new additions to DHS, as well as a not so crowded parking lot.
The construction is close to finished, with the new competition-sized gym scheduled to be ready by Christmas time. The entirety of the construction is scheduled to be finished by spring break this school year.
Those who are the most excited about the new additions to the school are those involved in athletics, as the completion of Phase 2 brings many new features in addition to the new gym.
Spectators and fans can look forward to new features such as a new entrance, concession stand and ticket booth at games.
Coaches are being given a new coaching room, as well as a new training room.
The new rooms in the add-on include a new wrestling room, weight room, a cardiovascular and multipurpose room.
While the new wrestling room and weight room are improved replacements of previous rooms the cardiovascular and multipurpose rooms, are completely new additions to DHS.
The multipurpose room will include indoor turf and batting cages. The room will be effectively used for all sports and weights classes for warm-ups.
The cardiovascular room will have new treadmills and bikes that can be used by students.
Upon completion, there will also be a new health room and a multipurpose fine arts room. The multipurpose room, which is a room that is painted all black, can be used for things such as one-act plays.
The new rooms to the building have also all been built to withstand dangerous weather.
Over the summer, the locker rooms were expanded, which is an addition of Phase 2 that has already been completed.
The summer was an important time for the construction, because it was easier for construction to take place since students and teachers were on break. During the summer 60 percent of Phase 2 was completed.
“The construction has all went underway pretty smoothly. I think we can thank that due to very good planning by the administration,” Activities Director Dwight Spencer said.
The entire cost of the construction of Phase 2 is around $9 million, but the district was reimbursed for about $1 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
With construction coming to an end by the second half of the school year, students will have something exciting to look forward to.