Nathan Gunesch and Kylie Brooks, both about to become eighth grade
students at Welches Middle School this fall, will not experience the challenges
of learning at 17100 Bluff Road in Sandy.

That address, and the high school originally built in 1922 that calls it home,
will close its doors after next year and a new high school at 37400 Bell Street
will open, just in time for Gunesch and Brooks to enter as freshmen.

Construction of the new high school, put into motion by a voter-approved
$114.9 million bond in the November 2008 election, is on track to meet the
September 2012 opening, but the two Welches students got a tour of the
construction site and a glimpse into their futures.

Bricks and mortar
Much of the walls have gone up at the 82-acre Bell Street property, but most
of the roofing still needs to be finished and interior work is expected to begin
in earnest this September. But the size of the 310,000 square foot building is
apparent to anyone approaching it.

“It’s a lot bigger,” said Brooks, 12, when asked to compare it to the two
Welches schools.

The school will also be nearly twice as big as the old Sandy High School, at
approximately 160,000 square feet, and decidedly different in design.
The new high school will feature four different elevation levels, a main hallway
at the middle of the building (like a spine) and three wings off the back, each
with 20 classrooms on two levels.

“I didn’t know these (wings) were back here; I just thought it was what you
could see from the front,” said Gunesch, 12, during the tour, noting that he’d
driven by the construction site before to see the progress.

The wings are likely to be among the first challenges for students as they
begin their studies at the new school, as they will have to figure out where
their classes are and how to get there.

“I think it might be confusing for a while,” Gunesch said.

On the exterior, the building already features cast concrete to look like wood,
while other elements – including rustic paneling and stone piers – will be
added to make it fit in with the Sandy Style and the surrounding forest.
Trees and other natural areas will remain between the three wings, with each
wing built to allow rain water to pass under them in order to help feed the
plants.

Those natural areas will be off limit for students, but that didn’t stop Gunesch
from making a suggested addition to the project.

“It’d be cool if there were some trails and benches back there,” he said.

School of opportunity
Students at the new school will enjoy some great improvements over the
current high school, including a new library approximately three times larger
than the current one, a performing arts center with main theater featuring a
stadium pit and seating for approximately 500 people, fully equipped science
labs, a two-level cafeteria and commons area (including an outdoor patio) and
an athletic facility featuring an indoor track, weight room and a main
gymnasium with a seating capacity of up to 1,800 people.Those features will
allow students a greater selection of classes and the equipment needed to
study what they want.

“There’s no Welches art program that we have, really,” said Brooks, who
previously lived in Vancouver, Wash. and planned on attending an arts school
there.

“I just kind of want to start over again and go back to pastels.”

Nathan’s mother, Mary Gunesch, also sees how the new building will also be
better for the teachers. Her daughter, Ali, who will be a senior at the old
school this coming school year, has already taken two classes in rooms
without windows.

“I think its going to be a lot healthier; (the old school) doesn’t breathe very
well,” Mary said. “It looks like a college preparatory facility; a facility that will
get kids excited about learning and excited about going on in school.”
“She’s jealous that she doesn’t get to use this one,” added Nathan about Ali,
his older sibling.