Lake Washington High School and school district officials, builders and both current and future students gathered at a fallow field near 75th Street to officially break ground for the construction of a new high school March 18.

The $75 million plan to rebuild Lake Washington High School is part of the School District’s strategy to re-conceptualize teaching and learning methods. After passing a bond for school modernization in 2004, LWSD Superintendent Dr. Chip Kimball said rebuilding the 60-year-old high school was always one of their top priorities.

“We want to make sure our kids are ‘future ready,'” he said. “This facility is going to make that happen.”

Kimball spoke before a large crowd gathered at the rear of the school near a Lydig Construction pick-up truck and a dozen gold-dipped shovels.

Paying homage to the high school’s long history of community and innovation, the superintendent read from the 1949 LWSD school board minutes about how the school’s auto shop nearly ran several local auto repair shops out of business. In another report, board members fretted over the wanderlust of the school’s varsity football offensive lineman. The players were suspended before a match-up with Puyallup for ditching school the day before on a hiking trip. The Kangs were reportedly trounced as a result.

Lake Washington High School was built in 1949 for approximately $1 million after the District had paid around $75,000 for the 32 acres of land in Rose Hill.

During the event, associate student body representatives from Lake Washington High, Kirkland Junior High and Rose Hill Junior High held up signs that marked the future location of the school’s new gym, theater and classrooms.

Tacoma-based McGranahan Architects will work with Lydig Construction of Bellevue to construct the new school. The design and construction teams, who both specialize in school constuction, are scheduled to complete their work by fall 2011 – in time for the new school year.

McGranahan lead architect Marc Gleason said remaining true to the school’s legacy and the district’s emphasis on using sutainable designs and materials made the project a unique challenge.

“There’s all these little artifacts and memories,” he said. “You’ll be pleased to know that this is a school district that wants to introduce buildings into the community that are really top notch.”

The design will create four “student houses” on the second and third floors of the building that house 300 students each, along with house-dedicated teachers. The seperate wings will be joined by an airy central two-story, windowed main entrance into a student commons area, library, career center, administrative offices and a cafeteria nearby.

Kimball also said the plans are adaptable should the district decide to pursue a grade 9-12 high school model, which is currently under consideration. According to the superintendent, the plan would better address college-prep needs for 9th Graders and create more capacity in the public school system, either to accomodate more growth or allow for a future move to all-day kindergarten. A decision could come by the end of the year.