On the first day of the new school year, there was a notable difference on the Berkeley High School campus: a large area that has been entirely blocked off. This is due to the construction of new bathrooms. It is taking place in the northwest corner of the BHS campus between the theaters and the H Building. This current construction will be followed by renovations of the BHS theaters. The construction has affected BHS students by requiring everyone to navigate around the fenced off area. Students involved in the performing arts will be affected once theater construction begins and the theaters close for the upcoming years.
BHS Principal Juan Raygoza explained that the current construction is still focused on building the bathrooms. “The construction currently happening right now, in between the H building and the theaters, is actually to create a brand new, small building that’s going to provide more bathroom access for students and for staff,” he said, “The plan is for the start of the second semester to open up a building that has an entrance for students and seven individual-stall, all-gender restrooms.” The new building will also be a staff entrance with an additional seven stalls.
Following the end of the construction on the new bathroom building, they’ll start renovating the BHS theaters. Principal Raygoza said, “The (Florence Schwimley) Little Theater is expected to start around that same time, sometime in the spring, and that will actually close both of those theaters, likely for a couple years,” Raygoza said, “During those years, the East end of the A Building will still be accessible. So the lobby of the community theater, all the A Building, classrooms, all of that will still be accessible, and during those couple years, we’re going to work with our staff to find different theater spaces in the community,” Raygoza said.
Morgan Baird and Neva Calhoun are juniors in Stagecraft, a BHS program where students learn skills on the technical side of theater. “We have class in the Little Theater, so we’re gonna have to go somewhere else to do class,” Baird said. Calhoun mentioned the current condition of the theater, where an old light fell, almost hitting her. Baird thinks that the renovation will eventually be worth it, but, “not right now, because we have to find other places to do stuff.” Calhoun explained that most students have not been very informed on the construction process, and she only knows what is going on because of her Stagecraft teacher.
Raygoza urges students to continue providing feedback on how to improve the BHS campus. “One of the commitments of our district and myself as a principal is to provide our students with the facilities that they need to do their best. And so that means meeting the needs of students,” he said. He also expressed his gratitude for the patience students and staff have shown under these potentially inconvenient circumstances.