Construction wraps up at Ann Arbor’s Pioneer High

Wednesday, November 10, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

Pioneer High School now boasts a new student courtyard, improved tunnels, and more space for its culinary arts and special education programs after a $1.7 million project was recently completed.

The project improved the back half of the high school on the city's west side, creating a student courtyard in an open area that formerly served as the home to 16 portable classrooms. The structures had been a fixture at the high school for more than 25 years, as the district managed its growth.

While most of the work will be done over the summer, the student courtyard construction continued through early fall. "The work will be completed by the end of October as planned," said Randy Trent, executive director of physical properties for Ann Arbor Public Schools, last month in an e-mail.

The project was paid for by money raised in a 2004 bond proposal that calls for improving Pioneer High School.

The school opened in the early 1950s on a huge parcel of land bordered by Seventh Street, Stadium Boulevard, Main Street, and Scio Church Street. It has been renovated and added on a number of times since then. It has been 20 years since the last major renovation. The opening of Skyline High School allowed the school district to redevelop Pioneer High School.

Source: Randy Trent, executive director of physical properties, Ann Arbor Public Schools
Writer: Kristin Lukowski