Decision time: Voters to determine fate of Whitefish High School in March

The basics:

 48,200 square feet of renovation

 72,300 square feet of new construction

 120,500 square feet total

 38 “teaching spaces”

 Total cost: $19 million, including a $14 million bond issue, $2.5 million in tax increment financing money from the city of Whitefish, $1.2 million in district TIF money, $1.2 million in grants

Features:

 The library will serve as the school’s technology hub and resource center. Its central location near the front door makes it both a prominent feature and easily accessible from a separate entry to make it available for other uses for the community.

 A multipurpose assembly hall that will seat up to 200 for lectures, standardized tests, small-scale performances and other functions supported by extensive audio and visual technology.

 Dining and kitchen facilities will make it possible to serve the entire student population. In the current building, only one quarter of the students dine in the school’s hallway.

 Two-story building provides greater security and the sense of a smaller school while also providing more classrooms with views of Big Mountain.

 A front entry to the north with student parking and access off Fourth Street designed to separate high school drivers from traffic to the adjacent elementary school.

 Classrooms of varying sizes are organized in clusters around common spaces designed to create informal student work and collaboration areas.

 Renovated gym and locker room areas with a proper fitness room and locker rooms to accommodate visiting teams.

 Flexible furniture systems to allow rapid reconfiguration of teaching spaces to meet different needs.

 Virtual learning studios.

 Exterior architecture designed to reflect and compliment historic Whitefish buildings while still being cost effective.

— Information fromwhitefishhighschoolfuture.com