Remodel Of Gresham High Is Testament To City's Growth, Change

R.J. Connells' handshakes are tight and long. He's gregarious – the kind of custodian who says "hi" to everyone he passes.

And if anyone knew how badly Gresham High School needed a remodel, he was the guy – the guy whose job it is to maintain decades-old buildings.

"It’s been needed for a long time, and I think people have responded in the community and have said, 'Yeah, we feel the need for change. We feel a need for a new facility, a new school,'" Connells said.

The head custodian added he sees it as his job to "protect that investment."

It's a $291 million investment, a capital construction bond approved by Gresham voters in November 2016. The bond is paying for projects at East Gresham Elementary, North Gresham Elementary, Sam Barlow High School and the city's first school, which first opened in 1906: Gresham High.

Seventy percent of Gresham High School will be replaced and on Wednesday, the Gresham-Barlow School District broke ground on the project.

"As they say, every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end," said District Superintendent A. Katrise Perera.

Changes In Gresham 

In just the last 20 years alone, Gresham has transformed from a rural farming community to a flourishing urban area between Portland and Mount Hood. The city’s current population is nearly 110,000 people. And it’s getting more diverse. In fact, three of the four current class presidents at Gresham High are women of color.

The rebuild of the city's oldest school is a proxy for that growth – and the city's response to it. Connell, whose job it is to maintain these aging buildings has watched the school get too small and too old for new generations of Gresham students.

"Every 10 or 15 years they added a new wing or something new to facilitate the growth of the area," he said. "A school like this was probably built for a maximum of 1,200 people. We’re getting close to 2,000 people."

Buildings will be torn down, a student commons will be built and a new plaza with iron gates will welcome people entering the football stadium.

The remodel also addresses safety concerns that didn't exist when Gresham High was built. There will be limited entrances – something Principal Michael Schaefer said administrators have to think about in an era when school shootings are common.

Some historic elements of the school will remain, however.

The more than 80-year-old iron doors of the school will go to the new campus.

"It's important just to honor the history of what this high school was as the original school of Gresham as a community, and those pieces from the Works Progress Administration-era are never going to come back, so to lose that piece of our history would be tragic," Schaefer said.

Connell said the new building will be a fresh start. He said he plans to start preventative maintenance on day one to make sure the new building will serve Gresham students for years to come.

"And remember, remember: part of our community is our schools," he said.

The rebuild will take two-and-a-half years while students attend classes in temporary buildings near campus.

"The current building has been maximized and has given its all," said Perera, the superintendent. "The current building has held up long beyond its functional purpose. And like anything else, the end is near."