A new main building, shown here in an architectural rendering, is coming to East Ascension High School. It will take the place of a half-century old building that will be demolished this summer.
Jeff Parent, planning and construction supervisor, talks about the new Media Center building changes at East Ascension High School Wednesday Feb. 16, 2022, in Gonzales, La. Renovations at the school have been underway in phases for several years. A major milestone will be the demolishing of the old main building this spring/summer, with a new building coming in its place.
Inside the new Media Center Building. Changes at East Ascension High School Wednesday Feb. 16, 2022, in Gonzales, La. Renovations at the school have been underway in phases for several years. A major milestone will be the demolishing of the old main building this spring/summer, with a new building coming in its place. Jeff Parent is the planning and construction supervisor.
Front exterior of current main building at EAHS which will be demolished for renovations. Changes at East Ascension High School Wednesday Feb. 16, 2022, in Gonzales, La. Renovations at the school have been underway in phases for several years. A major milestone will be the demolishing of the old main building this spring/summer, with a new building coming in its place. Jeff Parent is the planning and construction supervisor.
A new main building, shown here in an architectural rendering, is coming to East Ascension High School. It will take the place of a half-century old building that will be demolished this summer.
Front exterior of current main building at EAHS which will be demolished for renovations. Changes at East Ascension High School Wednesday Feb. 16, 2022, in Gonzales, La. Renovations at the school have been underway in phases for several years. A major milestone will be the demolishing of the old main building this spring/summer, with a new building coming in its place. Jeff Parent is the planning and construction supervisor.
The campus of East Ascension High School has seen big changes in recent years, but the most dramatic one will happen this summer when the half-century-old main school building is torn down to make way for a new one.
The two-story building, in the heart of Gonzales on East Worthey Road, opened in 1966. It has an outdated heating and air conditioning system running throughout the building that called for new construction from the ground up, said Jeff Parent, the school district's supervisor of planning and construction.
The two-pipe system now in place uses the same piping for both hot water heating and chilled water cooling — and switching from one to the other is a slow process, Parent said.
"Today is a nice, mild day, but we needed heat in the early morning," he said on a recent day at the school. "By 10 a.m., we needed air-conditioning, and that turnover can take two to four hours."
Jeff Parent, planning and construction supervisor, talks about the new Media Center building changes at East Ascension High School Wednesday Feb. 16, 2022, in Gonzales, La. Renovations at the school have been underway in phases for several years. A major milestone will be the demolishing of the old main building this spring/summer, with a new building coming in its place.
"Over the years, we've done a lot of things to reduce the time as much as we can," Parent said. The new construction will bring a four-pipe system that uses separate lines for hot and chilled water.
East Ascension High's future new main building, with administrative offices and classrooms, is a $27 million project, funded by a 2020 bond election.
The building is expected to be completed 18 to 24 months after construction begins this summer. The architect is Grace Hebert Curtis and the general contractor is Cangelosi-Ward, both Baton Rouge-based firms.
Construction on the East Ascension campus has been nonstop since 2016, after voters approved the sale of bonds. A free-standing Freshman Academy building was built for ninth-graders, as was a combined cafeteria and auditorium for use by the entire student body.
The last of the 2016 projects, a $9 million classroom building for students with special needs that also includes a student media center to replace the traditional library in the old main building, is under construction now and expected to be completed in April.
Inside the new Media Center Building. Changes at East Ascension High School Wednesday Feb. 16, 2022, in Gonzales, La. Renovations at the school have been underway in phases for several years. A major milestone will be the demolishing of the old main building this spring/summer, with a new building coming in its place. Jeff Parent is the planning and construction supervisor.
The architect for the 2016 bond projects is Gossen-Holloway-Cortez of Thibodaux; Baton Rouge's Cangelosi-Ward is the general contractor.
Another project also went up this school year on campus, but it's not a permanent addition. It's been nicknamed "Mod City," a site of modular classrooms and a modular office building that will temporarily house staff and students, 10th through 12th grades, when they return next fall for the 2022-2023 school year.
The main school building will be gone by then.
The gym attached to the old school building will remain intact as the last of the original spaces; an auxiliary gym built in 1986 will also stay, Parent said.
On March 12, the school will hold a day-long "One Last Stroll" event for former and present East Ascension Spartans before demolition of the main building begins.
Former faculty and staff will be on hand and there will even be a pep rally, parade and a baseball game.
More information on the event can be had by calling the school at (225) 391-6100 or emailing jamie.andrews@apsb.org.
Attendees can also take part in East Ascension's hallmark graduation experience — a jump in the pond across from the school.
Email Ellyn Couvillion at ecouvillion@theadvocate.com.
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