The public is invited to the groundbreaking of the new Agriculture Center at BHS on Monday, May 8, 2023 at 4 p.m. The event will take place at the site located just southeast of 18th Street and Shawnee/Jim Bohnsack Avenue.
Back in 2021, voters also approved the new facility to be built southeast of the high school. Its classrooms, show arena, small barns, and greenhouses will complement the existing classrooms and agriculture shop already in use in the existing agriculture building south of the Fine Arts Center near the Bruin Activity Center indoor practice facility.
The award-winning agriculture program continues to grow. Its initial enrollment of 77 students in 2019-2020 grew to 198 students in 2022-2023, and enrollment for next year is so high that a third agriculture teacher will be joining Marty Jones and Cameron Dale for 2023-2024.
The Pathfinder Parkway entrance off Shawnee Avenue south of the high school will remain closed while site preparation is underway and during construction. The area has been cleared and floodplain dirt from a nearby borrow pit is being used to build up an 8-foot-high platform for the new building to lift it out of the 100-year floodplain without adding dirt to the floodway that would exacerbate floods.
When complete, there will be a parking lot north of the facility for use by Agriculture Center patrons as well as the public accessing the Pathfinder Parkway.
The high rate of inflation, especially in construction, and supply chain disruptions have created pressures for a project that was funded based on estimates in 2021. The district is grateful to the Lyon Foundation for a $500,000 grant that will fund the agriscience and production greenhouses at the new Agriculture Center, allowing the center to be completed as planned.
