New walls rise at Royal’s middle school, high school

ROYAL CITY — Walls are going up for the new boys locker room at Royal High School, and construction crews are pouring the concrete floors in the girls locker room.

While a lot of the progress is still hard to see, construction in the Royal School District is well underway.

District Superintendent Roger Trail said Monday the most visible progress has been at Royal Middle School, where the exterior walls are up on two new classrooms.

“They (construction crews) are just flying on that,” Trail said.

Construction on the project began in November, and includes two additional classrooms each at the high school and middle school, remodeling of the RHS gym and a new gym foyer. District voters approved a bond for upgrades at the high school and middle school in February 2019.

Total project cost is about $19.87 million and scheduled completion is by summer 2022.

Trail said the exterior walls in the girls locker room are completed. The boys locker room was delayed because the space was enlarged for football gear, he said.

The gym interior also is being remodeled, with the old entry demolished and a new one under construction. The foundation has been poured for the new entry.

A mural is planned for the gym entry. District officials received four designs and the class of 2021 will choose which one it wants. .

The remodeling will connect the existing high school, gym, library and cafeteria, which are all separate buildings. The middle school office and entry also are being remodeled.

Trail said in an earlier interview one of the goals is to improve security, with the high school and middle school each getting a single point of entry. In fact, each district building will have a single entry when the project is completed, he added.