Park has continued the process of the ongoing construction inside of the school, and some people have been questioning different parts of the project. This process will last until about halfway through next school year.
According to Paddock, the walls at the front doors and the blockades at the end of the B1 hallway and C2 staircase are mandatory for safety reasons.
“It’s a construction zone so we have to have temporary walls to keep students and families and community members out because it’s a safety issue,” Paddock said. “The barrier tells you to not go down into the auditorium space and the walls keep you out of the construction.”
According to junior Bennett Anderson, the construction going on near the front doors has a negative impact on his learning.
“It’s really distracting with all the loud noises and drills going on in the middle of class,” Anderson said. “It makes it hard to focus in school.”
Principal LaNisha Paddock said the new lunchroom will have a large open space.
“When you enter the cafeteria all the way down to the auditorium, the only thing that will be in the middle will be gender inclusive bathrooms,” Paddock said. “You’ll be able to see, there will be less barriers to the whole space.”
Sophomore Ollie Culp said the construction has a negative impact on his learning experience.
“It’s very disruptive to my learning, not being able to use some of the hallways to get to class and not being able to utilize a full library for my studies,” Culp said.
Anderson said the additional moving space will be beneficial to Park.
“The new cafeteria will be pretty sweet and we’ll have hot lunch next year,” Anderson said. “It’ll be nice having more room and walking space.”
According to Culp, the finished project will positively impact Park students.
“It will benefit the students greatly, having a full library to check books out of and having a functional cafeteria with hot lunch,” Culp said.
Paddock said the new lunchroom will help fit more students into the three lunches in a comfortable way.
“It offers greater capacity for how many students we can fit in each lunch,” Paddock said. “There’s fun things happening down there too because our Storiole is gonna go down there with a nice new storefront,and some flexible seating. I’m super excited about the cafeteria.”
While construction is ongoing, the anticipated timeline for the front doors and cafeteria to be finished is fall of next school year (2024 – 2025).
