About $16 million worth of building projects are planned at Griffith High School over the next two years, the centerpiece of which is a new aquatic center featuring an eight-lane pool.
The aquatic center, which is expected to break ground in March 2025, will offer access to the public after school hours and be available to rent for events, according to Superintendent Leah Dumezich. The pool hasn’t been functional in two years, so Griffith’s swim team has been using the pool at Calumet High School.
After studying its current facilities and visiting other schools’ pools, Dumezich and the Griffith Board of Education determined that it was more feasible to build a new aquatic center adjacent to the athletic entrance on the south side of the school.
“The current pool is 60 years old and its mechanical system is more than 30 years old,” Dumezich said. “It’s well beyond its lifespan.”
The current pool will be filled in and converted into a two-story athletic center, which will accommodate a variety of sports teams.
“Some of our goals within that facility are to create indoor turf areas for soccer and football usage,” Dumezich said. “We also looking at a batting cage for the baseball team and a golf simulator because I’d really like to grow our golf team.”
She said the facility could potentially have a bowling lane, as the team pays $100 a night to use a local bowling alley. In addition, there will be enhancements to facilities for unified sports programs in which special education students participate alongside other students. The area may also include a type of water therapy spa to help with sports injuries.
Other renovations include new turf on the football field, which will include a type of padding underneath to help prevent injuries, as well as resurfacing of the track around the field. A new locker room for football and soccer teams, and one for swimmers accompanying the new pool, along with heating and air conditioning upgrades at the high school are planned.
Dumezich believes every student will benefit in some way from the new facilities and renovations.
“We don’t just have dual athletes at Griffith, we have kids that may be in three different sports and could be the lead in the school play too, or they’re also playing in the band,” she said. “We have kids that are involved in all kinds of things. And the cool thing about Griffith is that they can be. At larger schools they may not be able to do all that, but here they can. We want to encourage that, and don’t want them to just play one sport but do as much they can.”
A series of tax-neutral bond issues will fund the projects, Dumezich said. A $14 million addition to Wadsworth Elementary, which houses 12 new classrooms primarily for special needs and kindergarten students and opened at the start of the 2024-25 school year. The Wadsworth addition was paid for by a mix of grants and a tax-neutral bond issue.
Dumezich said she can see tangible differences in how the students have embraced the environment at the Trish Dodson Love of Learning Center.
“The students are really happy to come to school because it’s an exciting place to be,” she said. “There’s innovation everywhere. It’s full of color. They’re excited for the positive reinforcement. They love the slide. They love seeing the dogs. They love using the interactive sand table. They enjoy the great programming there. These kids are actively engaged, and our parents are happy to see how happy their kids are when they come home, exhausted, from school.”
Jim Masters is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
