News

County leaders to celebrate completion of HHS construction

By Lightning Reports, Published: July 29, 2022

The Henderson County School Board and administrators, Henderson County commissioners and the public will officially celebrate the opening of the new Hendersonville High School campus on Wednesday, Aug. 3, in time for the start of the 2022-2023 school year.

The ribbon cutting is the culmination of a four-year-long school construction and renovation project that’s been completed 11 months earlier than originally projected. Originally slated for completion in August 2023, the project moved ahead of schedule during 2020 and 2021, when remote learning was in place because of Covid-19 and students were off campus.

A $62 million investment by Henderson County, the new Hendersonville High campus encompasses 82,000 square feet of new and renovated space, including the new 115,000-square-foot Campbell Boyd Building that houses 50 classrooms.

The project preserved and renovated the historic Stillwell building and auditorium, established a new building with 21st century classroom space and reworked the campus layout for increased security. It also ultimately included athletic field upgrades corresponding with the public school system's other three traditional high schools’ fields. As part of the new school, Hendersonville High now has new artificial turf, a new rubberized track and a new press box at Dietz Field.

“The Board of County Commissioners is pleased to announce to the taxpayers of Henderson County that work has been successfully completed on the newly renovated and expanded Hendersonville High School," Board of Commissioners Chair Bill Lapsley said. "This $60 million investment in our community’s education facilities shows the support of past Commissioners and as well as the current Board of Public Education of our young people. The previous campus facilities prevailed for over 100 years and we hope that these new facilities will carry on the community’s tradition of excellence in education.”

Blair Craven said, “As a graduate of Hendersonville High and school board chair, it makes me extremely proud that this newly renovated campus will be here for at least the next 100 years to serve the next generations of Bearcats."

Here is the timeline of the construction project:

• February 2018 - demolition of former Boyd Auto building, for new parking lot
• June 11, 2019 – construction of new building begins
• January 2020 – demolition begins of old gym, for construction of new auxiliary gym + renovation of Jim Pardue gym
• November 2020: new building construction completed
• May 2021 – new auxiliary and renovated Jim Pardue gyms completed for Class of 2021 graduation
• December 2021 – dedication of new Campbell Boyd Building
• February 2022 – renovation of Stillwell auditorium complete
• May 2022 – installation of artificial turf begins on Dietz Field
• June 2022 – dedication of Thomas E. “Tom” Orr Stage in Stillwell auditorium
• Aug. 3, 2022 – ribbon cutting of completed campus

The Aug. 3 celebration will include a ribbon cutting by the Henderson County Board of Public Education and Henderson County Board of Commissioners. A brief walking tour hosted by Principal Bobby Wilkins will follow.