As Hempfield Area officials and community members reflected Monday on the beginning of the district’s long-awaited high school renovation, one message was clear: The goal of the updated building is to support an evolving education landscape.
Dozens of administrators, teachers, school board members, students and township supervisors braved the afternoon heat, gathering in front of the high school for a formal ceremony to celebrate the start of the $119 million project. About 30 high school band members performed the national anthem and the district’s alma mater under cloudless skies.
The district broke ground on the high school renovation June 1 — which was made evident by the construction vehicles and piles of dirt dotting the excavated parking lot. Fences blocking off work zones surrounded trailers that workers will use during the renovation.
The design for the updated high school will prepare students for an ever-changing workforce, said Superintendent Mark Holtzman.
“As educators, we know the emergence of artificial intelligence and new technologies will fundamentally change the workforce over the next 20 to 30 years,” he said. “While we cannot predict every career our students will pursue, we can create learning environments that foster innovation, collaboration, creativity and adaptability.”
Student: Renovated high school will leave lasting legacy
In March, the school board approved bids for the $119 million project. The three-part project is expected to be completed by June 2029, with each phase taking about a year.
The main entrance to the high school was blocked off this month. An alternative entrance behind the school along Spartan Lane will be the only access point to the building during the summer.
The first phase of work includes construction of a two-story addition — between 70,000 and 80,000 square feet — as well as updates to the swimming pool, auditorium, high school and field house roofs.
The second phase will address classrooms, the cafeteria and the library. The final phase will expand the field house lobby, rework the parking lot and renovate the inside of the field house and the back section of the high school.
The renovation will accomplish more than upgrades to classrooms, said school board President Jerry Radebaugh.
“We are building state-of-the-art labs to inspire the next generation of scientists, creative spaces to nurture our artists and modernized common areas where friendships and ideas can thrive,” he said. “We are giving our educators the tools and environment they deserve to do what they do best — that is inspire.”
Rising senior Katie Wentzel’s enthusiasm for the renovation has not been dampened by the reality she will not walk the updated halls as a student.
“The students who will study here years from now may never know everyone who helped make this project possible, but they’ll benefit from that commitment everyday,” said Wentzel, student council vice president. “That’s a legacy that will extend far beyond these walls.”
Hempfield Area English teacher James Steeley, who graduated from Hempfield in 1988, reflected on the district’s history — from initial brainstorming sessions in 1841 to the high school’s current building opening in 1956.
“From 1841 to 1956 to 2026 and every moment in between, there’s one common theme that runs through that, and that is it’s always for the kids,” he said. “It’s part of our DNA. It’s part of who we are, and it’s part of who we will always be.”
More on the project
• Hempfield Area High School to break ground on $119 million renovation just days after graduation
• How Hempfield Area’s $119M high school renovation will impact students
• Hempfield Area School Board approves bids for long-awaited renovation at $119 million
• Hempfield Area drafts 3D designs for high school renovation
• Hempfield high school project plan is millions of dollars over budget, must be revised
• Hempfield School Board decides to tear down existing high school to its bare bones
• Hempfield school leaders take first steps toward feasibility study to rebuild or renovate high school
Project discussions date to 2020
The high school renovation has been a topic of discussion among district officials, parents and students for more than five years.
A feasibility study was approved in December 2020 and advanced in April 2021 when the school board hired Minnesota-based SitelogIQ to complete the nine-month assessment for $22,500.
The school board decided in March 2022 to gut and renovate the building, initiating a borrowing plan the following month to pay for the project. The project was initially assigned a $128 million budget in January 2023, which climbed to $132 million that June.
The project was put on pause in August 2023 when bids for the first phase came in higher than expected. The district brought the project back on track in 2024, laying out revised visions for the renovation that October.
The district later hired architect Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates to lead the project alongside SitelogIQ and owner’s representative McKinley Architecture and Engineering.
The board advanced schematic designs in May 2024, and district officials drafted 3D designs three months later.