HOLT - A cramped 35-year-old high school building and anticipated long-term population growth in the Holt School District prompted voters to approve a $73 million bond issue to improve and expand facilities.

The district, south of Lansing, is spending $54.1 million of that bond issue on a new Holt High School - and in the design process, they were undoubtedly thinking big.

Granger Construction and the building trades are in the process of erecting the largest high school in mid-Michigan, a 350,000-square-foot building situated on 100 acres of what was farmland. The first earth was moved on the project in January 2001, and construction is expected to wrap up in the summer of 2003. Approximately150 construction workers are currently toiling on the project.

"The workmanship has been very good," said Chris Strugar-Fritsch, project manager for Granger. "Overall the trades have been working well together and we've had some really good contractors out here, too."

The old farmland may have been good for growing crops, but Strugar-Fritsch said the silty-clay soil on the site was unsuitable for good backfill for the foundations, which delayed the project. "It didn't compact well, it was always either too wet or too dry," he said. As a result, truckloads of sand were imported to improve the soil conditions.

The new high school and adjacent acreage will include a performing arts auditorium, an eight-lane, L-shaped pool, an arena-style gymnasium, new soccer, football and baseball fields as well as practice fields for all three sports, and a kitchen that will serve as the central food preparation area for the entire school district. Classrooms and four main science laboratories will all be wired for today's technology and be ready for the future.

"It's almost like working on six or seven projects at the same time," said Project Coordinator Jeff Hannah of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 333 and mechanical contractor John E. Greene. He's working with general foreman Ken Myers. "The buildings each have their own systems, and it keeps our people spread out. It's pretty complicated, and we've had to work out a number of conflicts. It's going to be a nice place when it's all done."

The high school is designed for a student population of 1,400 and a staff of 100.

The remainder of the Holt Public Schools bond issue includes renovation of two middle schools and five elementary schools, and transforming the existing junior high school into a ninth-grade school.

RIGGING A PALLET of block atop the mud at Holt High School last week is Tony Stephens of Laborers Local 998. Ready to make the lift is operator Howard Marsh of Local 324.

INSTALLING PIPING for hot and chilled water lines in a hallway at the new Holt High School are Delos Caruss and Mike Klein of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 333 and John E. Green.