Construction at Lamar High School is continuing, as allowable under the public health guidelines, with renovations to the original building now 80 percent complete.

The renovation work, designed to preserve the building’s historically significant architecture, included the construction of a new child care wing, welcome center, and updated ROTC and Career and Technical Education classrooms.

The athletic fields — including football, baseball, softball, soccer practice fields — and tennis courts also are underway.

“When the environment is designed to enhance the collaborative nature of learning, magic happens,” Lamar Principal Rita Graves said. “That is what our new building has done for us.” 

Part of the 2012 Bond Program, Lamar’s $122 million project overall is tracking at 90 percent completion, with the new state-of-the-art academic wing and parking garage completed last fall.

The new academic wing was built perpendicular to the existing building and features four large, flexible learning areas, or “neighborhoods,” to facilitate the school’s interdisciplinary and project-based approach. Each neighborhood houses 200 or fewer students.

The new school also features a large covered transit center, black box theater and band-instruction area, natatorium, school store, and large banquet and food preparation space for the school’s culinary arts program. 

“The new building has allowed us to further develop the tenets of our IB programs and has helped our students develop the soft-skills to support the academic learning that Lamar has been known for over the decades,” Graves said.

More than 85 percent of all school construction for the 2012 Bond program is now complete. Once all projects are done, HISD will boast of one of the most modern portfolios of urban high schools in the country.

Follow @Build_HISD on Twitter for the latest updates on the 2012 Bond Program and school construction across the district.