NILES, Ohio - Tuesday, students at Niles McKinley High School began learning in a whole new environment. It was their first day of classes in a brand new building.
Compared to the more than 50 year old building it's replacing, the new high school is more user friendly for students and staff and more cost efficient for the district to maintain and operate.
On Monday, workers put the finishing touches on the school which is 125,000 square feet and cost $25,000,000, a combination of state and local funding.
Part of the local funding was needed in order to include a 500-seat auditorium.
The school also has two gymnasiums and there are 27 classrooms and labs along with separate areas for vocal music and band.
"And the vocal room goes right into our band room," said Frank Danso, Niles interim superintendent. .
The band room is just steps away from the schools stadium and both music rooms are right next to the auditorium stage.
The halls will be quieter because most floor surfaces are a rubberized material that is highly durable and is low maintenance.
When it comes to other cost savings, the school will be served by a state of the art geo-thermal system.
"Where we will be able to comfortably heat and cool 125,000 square feet of building," Danso said.
Any updating of the schools many computers will also be more efficient, thanks to an in-house central server.
"From the server room, our technical people can update all of these with one switch," Danso added.
With so much new attention on school security, each of the 900 square-foot classrooms is equipped with an emergency button which immediately signals an alert and call for help.
Security is also enhanced by a total of 104 cameras both inside and outside the building.
For photos of the new school, check out the slide show at the bottom of this page.
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