photo by: Dylan Lysen/Lawrence Journal-World

Lawrence High School teachers meet in the school's renovated cafeteria on Aug. 12, 2021.

A $46 million multiyear project to renovate Lawrence High School is nearing completion as construction crews wrap up work this month.

After having previously added classrooms and study spaces, the project over the last year has focused on renovations that provide more space and natural light in the building.

The improvements also provide a better teaching and learning environment for the high school, originally constructed in 1954, said Jack Hood, who has taught history at LHS for more than 20 years.

“It’s amazing,” Hood said. “They took a nearly 70-year-old building and breathed life into it.”

photo by: Dylan Lysen/Lawrence Journal-World

A renovated library in Lawrence High School now sits on the northern side of the school alongside an entrance that was renovated to provide more natural light and open space in the building.

District administrators and construction leaders recently provided the Journal-World with one last tour of the renovated building before the completion of the project. Upgrades over the last year include the school’s library, commons and cafeteria area near the building’s entrance and athletic locker rooms and coaches offices.

However, with school beginning on Thursday, some smaller parts of the project are still unfinished. Brad Corkrean, senior project manager for McCownGordon Construction, said the floor installations for the school’s cafeteria and gym were not yet done.

But Larry Englebrick, the district’s facilities director, said that those projects wouldn’t hinder classes beginning this week and should be finished in the next few weeks.

“Other than that it’s just final-touch things like paint,” Englebrick said. “We’re in good shape.”

photo by: Dylan Lysen/Lawrence Journal-World

One of the few areas still under construction at Lawrence High School is the floor of the building’s main gym. Crews were delayed in laying down the wood for the floor because of humidity issues over the summer.

photo by: Dylan Lysen/Lawrence Journal-World

Locker rooms and coach offices were improved in the $46 million renovation of Lawrence High School.

Following the overall theme of the project, the renovations created more space and added natural lighting to the central portion of the school, which had housed the previous version of the school’s library. Now the opened-up area provides new study spaces, along with a new version of the library.

The renovation has also created new outdoor concourse areas where students can study, eat lunch and catch some sunshine. Additionally, the outdoor areas include large murals on the exterior walls of the building recognizing the school’s diversity and its mission to educate.

Noting that the building looks completely different, Hood said the school has become the “most open environment” he’s ever seen in education. But it may be some time until students can fully take advantage of it, he said, as the coronavirus pandemic means students can’t gather as freely as they would under normal circumstances.

“I can’t wait until we get back to normal when we can start to use all of the shared common spaces,” he said. “The ability to move and the openness of the area — hopefully that transfers into actual instruction for teachers brave enough to use the areas and give the kids more freedom.”

photo by: Dylan Lysen/Lawrence Journal-World

An outdoor concourse located in the central part of the renovated Lawrence High School provides students with study and cafeteria space.

photo by: Dylan Lysen/Lawrence Journal-World

A larger mural in one of the outdoor concourse spaces at Lawrence High School highlights the diversity of the historic school.

The renovation also brings the school up to a more modern standard. District spokeswoman Julie Boyle said one of the goals of the project was to put LHS on par with newer school buildings in the district.

“That was a focus too: making sure kids here feel just as excited about their school as kids do at a newer building,” Boyle said.

The renovation did run into some setbacks over its duration, including the need to push back the beginning of the school year in 2019, as the Journal-World previously reported. Additionally, a significant chunk of the project was completed while the pandemic forced students to learn from home.

Then earlier this year, former facilities director Tony Barron left the school district for a job in Johnson County, which brought Englebrick to Lawrence. He said before he took over the position in Lawrence, district services director Paula Murrish and technology director David Vignery had taken command of the project.

“They did a wonderful job,” he said. “Tony on his departure left us a great project and a great legacy of his work here at Lawrence High School.”

Now heading into the final days of the project, Englebrick said the district was excited to have students in the renovated building.

“Having students and staff back in the school … that’s what this is all about,” Englebrick said.

photo by: Dylan Lysen/Lawrence Journal-World

A stairway near the entrance of Lawrence High Schools leads to a large open area for students to study.