The construction project is coming up on its halfway mark with a year left on the project. As students return to campus, City High’s new addition begins to take shape. Construction continues to make progress despite the global pandemic. The timeline has moved back slightly, the new completion date is October 18, 2021. This is about a month later than the original completion date of September 1.

“There has been an opportunity to work more during the school day so we are hoping to get the date moved up,” Assistant Principal Jespersen said. “We plan on opening next year in the space although small final touches may still be happening.”

Assistant Principal Jespersen has been representing City High in weekly construction meetings throughout the timeline of this project. The move to online school has allowed the construction project to move faster than originally planned. However, a few problems arose over the summer. 

“The Derecho set back construction by a week or so,” Jespersen said. 

The Derecho, which hit Iowa City August 10, was a major wind storm that affected the majority of Eastern Iowa. The Derecho caused major property damage and power outages.

“Construction on the third floor is being completed,” Jespersen said. “the third floor will be completed by November 1st.” 

As in-person school begins, hybrid students will notice that the third floor is off-limits due to construction. The classes on the third floor, like languages, chemistry, and some social sciences were moved to Hoover Elementary. Students with those classes will have an extra two minutes added on to their passing periods to get from City High to the Hoover building. Students will also notice that 4th Avenue is closed.

“[Online school] has allowed for 4th avenue to be closed, giving construction a lot more space for large equipment,” Jespersen said. 

However, most of the construction cannot be accelerated because of production and shipping timelines. 

“City High was the best campus before construction began and it will be even better when this project is complete,” Jespersen said.