Have you felt like your lunch period is too short or that the commons is too crowded during passing periods?

Upcoming sophomores and following students of Ben Davis should be on the lookout for a new change starting in the spring of 2024. There will be renovations made to the school’s building to help create a sustainable and safe environment for the students and staff.

This new highly awaited infrastructure will be taking place only in front of the school. It will also create a more fresh and modern spacious setting that will help students feel more comfortable.

“The front of the building, all of the main office, the counselor’s office, student services, the clinic, and the records in the media center into the commons area will be remodeled,” Principal Sandra Squire said of next years plans.

The development will take time before construction will start.

“We have been told that it should take about a year and a half. So, we are hopeful it will get done in that time,” Squire said.

What’s the inspiration and concept behind the remodeling?

“So, we really want to get down to three lunches,” Squire said. “We want lunches to be a little longer, 23 minutes is a really short lunch. Also, by going down to three lunches it really helps us break up the schedule so we can be a lot more creative, a lot more flexible. Maybe, block some classes where we got two contents that are similar crossover. And also for safety and security, we have a really good front entrance but we want the whole entire, like all of the offices to be really safe and secure. We’re looking at how to have a wall with some windows so people can just check in at the windows.”

Who’s involved in making this change within the renovation of Ben Davis?

“Our CFO, Barry Gardner, Dr. Butts, his cabinet, and then the school board,” Squire said. “The school board had to approve of this and then we have the construction manager Dave Erickson, he’s very heavily involved in the conversations.”

The remodel will consist of temporarily moving all the front offices and the media center will be moved to the second floor and the current commons will expand into what is now the media center. The anticipated started date is January of 2024.

Since the remodeling will take place during school hours, how will the school continue to operate?

“We’re just going to be very flexible, we’re going to have a different front entrance for a while so we’re going to be looking at what that would look like . We’re going to faze in different plans along the way,” Squire said.

What should students be looking forward to with this upcoming change?

“They’re going to be excited to have a new media center and have a different cafeteria that is comfortable and expands in different areas,” Squire said. “They’ll have more flexible scheduling in the future and have a more safe and secure school.”