Officials Celebrate Bentonville West High School Project

 STAFF PHOTO SAMANTHA BAKER • @NWASAMANTHA Michael Poore, Bentonville Public Schools superintendent, describes a visual of what Bentonville West High School will look like Monday at the site of Bentonville West High School groundbreaking on Gamble Road in Centerton.
STAFF PHOTO SAMANTHA BAKER • @NWASAMANTHA Michael Poore, Bentonville Public Schools superintendent, describes a visual of what Bentonville West High School will look like Monday at the site of Bentonville West High School groundbreaking on Gamble Road in Centerton.

CENTERTON -- Streaks of blue and gold sand appeared Monday after School Board members and other community officials dug their shovels into what had seemed like an ordinary bed of dirt.

That sand represented the colors of Bentonville West High School. Monday's ceremony represented the official beginning of the school's construction.

At A Glance

Site Price

The Bentonville School Board last week approved a guaranteed maximum price of $7.12 million for site work for Bentonville West High School. That covers all the work required to prepare the site for construction. The School District expects to get its guaranteed maximum price for the building in September.

Source: Staff Report

Participants in the groundbreaking, all wearing hard hats, pushed their shovels at the count of three, punctuated by the shout of "Wolverines," Bentonville West's mascot.

Wendi Cheatham, School Board president, thanked those who worked to win the community's approval of a second high school during a millage campaign last summer.

"Many people thought this day would never come," Cheatham said.

The ceremony took place under a white tent on the Bentonville West site, which is on the west side of Gamble Road, south of Centerton Gamble Elementary School.

Michael Poore, district superintendent, pointed out the area directly west of the tent, saying that was where the school's performing arts center would be.

The school's site is a mostly empty pasture. The board bought the 90-acre site for $2.65 million in 2006.

A construction trailer has been moved onto the site. Heavy equipment will arrive soon and crews will begin work on within the next couple of weeks, according to Troy Musson of Flintco, the firm serving as construction manager on the project. Bentonville West is scheduled to open in August 2016.

The groundbreaking came almost exactly two years after voters rejected the board's first millage request for a second high school. About 58 percent of voters turned down that proposal on June 26, 2012. The board presented a much cheaper millage package in an election Sept. 17. About 70 percent of voters approved that one.

Poore thanked board members and others for supporting the successful millage campaign. The Bentonville/Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce "got behind this and made this part of their business plan to say, 'This is an economic driver,'" Poore said.

Poore noted Walmart's support of the campaign. He also singled out Mark Henry, a consultant from Fayetteville, whom Poore called the "political strategist" behind the campaign.

Bentonville West will have some unique features, including ample "collaborative spaces" for teachers and students.

"You'll also be thrilled by the economics of it. It's not a Taj Mahal," Poore said. "Our plan is to deliver something that's on time and on budget."

Centerton Mayor Bill Edwards was one of numerous Centerton city officials on hand. He called the Bentonville West project "a big deal."

"This is big. It's not just huge for the city, it's huge for the district," Edwards said.

Bentonville West eventually will be the fifth-largest high school in the state, Edwards said. It will be twice the size of the Walmart Supercenter that's scheduled to open in Centerton next year, he said.

The city is preparing for the heavy influx of traffic the high school will bring. A traffic study is being conducted this summer and the city will make improvements to Gamble Road, Edwards said.

Representatives of the Bentonville High School Alumni Association also attended the ceremony. Cindy Acree, a member of the class of 1975, said the association will welcome Bentonville West alumni.

"We don't want the community to be split over buildings when we're one community," Acree said. "We want to keep people together and keep them connected."

The association's logo includes a tiger, Bentonville High's mascot. It will be changed to incorporate a wolverine as well, said Rusty Anderson, association treasurer.

Georgia Brown, who will be a sophomore at Bentonville High this fall, sang the National Anthem at the ceremony. She followed that by singing Carole King's "I Feel the Earth Move" when the groundbreaking was complete.

Brown, who is releasing her own album this summer, wrote a song in support of last year's millage that was posted on YouTube. She won't get the chance to attend Bentonville West, but her little brother will be a freshman the year it opens.

"It gives a lot of kids more opportunities to do the arts and sports and everything they want to do," she said.

NW News on 06/24/2014

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