OPENING NEW DOORS.

Byline: Jim Feehan The Register-Guard

COTTAGE GROVE - Officials are racing the clock to have most everything in place for Wednesday's opening of the city's new high school.

On Sunday, teachers' supplies packed in cardboard boxes lined the walls outside classrooms, chemistry supplies were still in boxes and display cases stood empty awaiting delivery of trophies from championships past from the old school on Taylor Avenue.

But South Lane School District Superintendent Krista Parent says most of the finishing touches will be complete by the time freshmen start class Wednesday and the remaining students Thursday.

High school Principal Donn Pollard said that while the school is not lavish, it should serve as a source of pride.

"Parents and community members have gone through on guided tours and the overwhelming response from most of them is, `Wow.' '

Bill Thompson, the high school's wrestling coach and a 26-year district veteran, is excited about the new digs. "It's long overdue," he said.

Already, 915 students have signed up for classes, up from 770 last June, Parent said. A larger-than-expected freshman class and more families moving into the district have driven the increase, Parent said. But enrollment better not get too much larger because the school is designed for 1,000, she said.

To accommodate the growing pains, additional lockers have been installed and 60 desks and chairs are parked in the hallways awaiting deployment.

After three failed attempts in the 1990s, voters overwhelmingly approved a $25.9 million bond measure in 2000 to pay for the new 185,000-square-foot, two-story school with reddish-brown brick facade and rust-red metal roof. The school is at 1375 S. River Road, next to Lane Community College's branch campus in the southwest corner of town.

The school was designed to address security concerns arising from school shootings at Littleton, Colo., Springfield and elsewhere.

That's why the school has a wide-open look, from a first-floor hallway that stretches the length of the school to large windows in the administration offices that allow for a wide-angle view of everything happening in front of the school.

The hallways are six feet wider than at the old school, with lockers on only one side in most areas, in an effort to reduce congestion, Parent said.

The school also features only five main entrances - compared to 33 different entrances as the old high school. "That was a safety nightmare," Parent said.

The school has the 21st century student in mind with 750 parking stalls compared to only 175 at the old school, Parent said. "People were parking all over residential streets and it was a real hassle," she said.

The new school boasts an expansive library with a 180-degree view overlooking the main entrance. Couches and coffee tables provide a relaxing atmosphere in the school lobby. An outdoor amphitheater will also serve as a gathering place.

Classrooms feature high-vaulted ceilings, built-in cabinets, 16-foot-long chalk boards, and 27-inch televisions with DVD and video cassette recorder.

The vocational building includes a greenhouse and wood shop as well as classrooms for students studying drafting, hydraulics, robotics and pneumatics.

In the arts, there are separate rooms for band and vocal with practice rooms off in the wings. The "cafetorium" doubles as cafeteria and auditorium.

The athletic facilities will be the envy of schools across Lane County, Parent said.

A 3,000-seat football stadium with artificial turf will be named for Howard White, a 1916 graduate whose family sold the land where the new school is located.

The school's gymnasium seats 1,200 and has an auxiliary gym.

The wrestling program has its own large room, complete with padded walls and floor mats so that grapplers won't have to share the gym during basketball and volleyball practices.

"We like to think we thought of every contingency," Parent said.

As for the old high school, Parent said school board members have expressed a desire to keep the property, utilizing the pool and athletic fields and possibly building a new elementary school on the site.

Senior-to-be Ryan Lucas, 17, has been giving guided tours of the new school over the summer. He said he won't miss the old school, with its buckets in the hallway to catch water from a leaky roof, unreliable plumbing and a lack of air conditioning.

"It's going to make going to school a lot more enjoyable and better for learning, not having to worry about what's going to break down next," he said.

SCHOOL DAYS

Back to the future: In 1940, a group of students and members of the Masonic Lodge sealed a time capsule in the then-new high school on Taylor Avenue. At 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, students at the newly completed Cottage Grove High will open the time capsule and discover what their predecessors considered worthy of preserving. The event is open to the public.

School zone enforcement: The city has posted two new stop signs at the intersection of River Road and Harrison Avenue in anticipation of increased traffic. The police department has beefed up patrols in the area.

More pomp and circumstance: A dedication ceremony of the new school will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday.

CAPTION(S):

Already 915 students have signed up for classes at the brand new Cottage Grove High School, which opens Wednesday and will be formally dedicated on Sunday.