Voters in the Helena School District (HSD), Montana, approved two bond measures earlier this month, totaling $283 million to replace existing elementary and high school buildings with modern campus facilities. Officials estimate that construction will begin in either late 2027 or early 2028.
The lion’s share of approved bond capital will support replacing Helena High School (HHS) and reconstructing portions of Capital High School (CHS). The district will spend $240 million to demolish the existing HHS facility and build a new campus on the same site. The building will feature numerous technological, infrastructure and practical improvements to facilitate learning.
As part of the project, HSD will build Career and Technical Education (CTE) instructional spaces that will be attached to the main building. Additional work will include building a secure main entrance as well as an auxiliary gymnasium, performing arts space, a central space and instructional space for the Project for Alternative Learning.
The district plans to make various site improvements to the campus, starting with building a football field with accompanying track and field elements. Any remaining funding available will go toward improving parking and traffic flow.
HSD will also demolish parts of CHS to facilitate reconstruction work. The project vision includes building CTE instructional spaces attached to the main building, a secure main entrance, an auxiliary gymnasium and expanding student commons and cafeteria spaces. Plans also feature making improvements to academic spaces, updating performing arts spaces, updating athletic training fields and reconfiguring parking spaces and points of access.
The second approved bond allocated $43 million to demolish and replace the Kessler Elementary School building. In addition to replacing the facility, HSD will make various associated site and operational improvements to accommodate increased student enrollment.
Photo by Scottish Government, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, from Wikimedia Commons
