“The magnitude of this building project was massive and much (in) need for our district and community. In 2009, our 14 elementary schools were aging and outdated. Some of the buildings such as Lincoln Elementary were 100 years old. It was an exciting time watching our community embrace such a positive experience.”
Voters in the 10,000-student Butler County district passed two bond issues – one in 1999 and one in 2006 - to finance the project to build eight new elementary schools and a new freshman school.
Bridgeport, Fairwood, Linden and Ridgeway elementary schools opened in 2009.
Other new building construction projects included Brookwood, Crawford Woods, Highland and Riverview elementaries, which opened in 2010.
The massive infrastructure project also included a partial rebuild of Wilson Middle School, renovations at Garfield Middle School and a new fitness facility/basketball arena at Hamilton High School. By the end of 2011, every public school in the city was either new or substantially renovated.
Opening multiple school buildings in the same year are rare in this region.
The most recent was when Fairfield Schools opened three new buildings – Central and Compass Elementary Schools and Fairfield Freshman School – in 2017.
And this year also marks the 60-year anniversary of the opening of what were once Hamilton’s two high schools, Taft Senior High and Garfield Senior High. The district now has a single Hamilton High School.
Garfield later was converted to a middle school and Taft became, after many renovations and expansions the current Hamilton High.
“The district is thankful for the community’s support of passing the two bond issues, which enabled us to build eight new elementary schools, Hamilton Freshman School, Wilson Middle School, and total renovations of Garfield Middle School and Hamilton High School,” said Joni Copas, spokesperson for the district.
“These buildings have all been a part of Hamilton’s revitalization.”
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