Students and staff at Columbia High School have been negotiating construction for about two years now, and though the parking  lot still won’t be clear for a while, the biggest chunk of renovation work is finally coming to an end.

Having completed the new entrance and administrative office space several months ago, renovations at the school lately have focused on adding classrooms and a long-desired auditorium.

These include a collection of science labs on the second floor of the building. These come in pairs, with two classes on either side of the hall sharing a prep space between the rooms.

Along with other general classroom space, rooms on the second floor above the auditorium have been whiteboxed. With the spaces constructed, finishing touches can be conducted at a later time when the school finds a need for the additional rooms.

Further, larger rooms have also been constructed for band and choir classes specifically.

To the right of the school’s main entrance is the entryway for the auditorium.

Folks in the auditorium lobby can look out at the parking lot from the windows lining the entire wall at the front of the school.

The lobby also features a dedicated ticket booth as well as a concession stand further down the hall, a fridge donated by CHS alumnus Scott Harres of Harres Home in Columbia.

With the space looking new but somewhat sparse, Columbia Superintendent of Schools Chris Grode remarked that the walls are planned to be decorated with posters of performances while furniture might be built and added by CHS students in the future.

The auditorium itself is a highlight of the currently completed renovations, featuring 460 seats.

The large stage features plenty of backstage area as well as space in the wings. The front flooring of the stage can be removed, revealing an orchestra pit.

High above the seating is a catwalk providing access to an array of stage lights. Additional lighting can be found on the mezzanines leading up to the catwalk.

At the back of the auditorium is the lighting booth. Though there is a distinct room for lighting controls, the auditorium also features a space just in front of the light booth for the sound controls, with someone able to control the speakers in the room while getting to hear the sound themselves at the back of the audience.

The district received its occupation permit for this portion of the building early this week, just in time for an open house to show off the space on Tuesday and a performance of “Mamma Mia!” to break in the new stage Thursday.

Columbia teacher and drama sponsor Annie Dent voiced her pleasure with how the auditorium has turned out.

“The new auditorium provides us with so many opportunities for educational and artistic growth,” Dent said. “On the performance side, we have more space to showcase students on this larger stage and an auditorium that is designed so that they can be heard and seen from every seat in the audience. For our technical students, we now have the capability to teach more in depth about lighting, sound, scenic, design and stage management.”

She further noted that students have already had the chance to learn how to work the lights as well as the microphones and speakers.

Dent and her students have also built an entirely new set for the space, something she said hasn’t been done in about 15 years.

“It has been a delight to teach students about all aspects of theater as we’ve seen the space come together in the past month,” Dent said. “This space is breathtaking, and I am ecstatic to see what the future holds for us.”

The auditorium, administrative offices and added classrooms all comprise phase one of the high school’s renovation project which, as Grode recalled, really began back in 2023 with Columbia School Board discussions about adding and allocating parking on the nearby hill in Bolm-Schuhkraft Memorial City Park as well as near the multipurpose field’s press box.

Phase two of the project has also been underway for some time, with the skeleton of the large competition gymnasium already erected.

Providing the Republic-Times with a tour of both phase one and phase two, Grode noted that the new gym will feature bleachers on all sides as well as space for virtual golf, training and other amenities.

Additionally, students parking on the hill will still be able to access the main school on this side of the building by walking through part of the new gym building.

Phase three of the projects consists of relatively more minor additions and alterations to the building, ensuring the tiles and other features match between the new and old construction and taking care of ADA issues such as updating bathrooms in the building.

In terms of cost, Grode said the project as a whole is set to not exceed $50 million. Phase one is the largest and most costly part of the entire renovation at around $28.7 million.

Speaking on how the construction process has gone, Grode was positive but acknowledged the delays that have come about due to weather, particularly the many winter weather days during the 2024-2025 school year.

He also recalled some issues with acquiring some materials for the project.

“The difficulties have been unavoidable,” Grode said. “You can’t control the weather. There’s also been things like, with the auditorium, there’s significant amounts of electrical equipment that you need. I don’t think anybody really thought much about the data centers causing computers and electrical equipment to become much harder to get.”

Grode emphasized that the companies the district has worked with throughout the project have been excellent.

“Poetker’s been wonderful to work with,” Grode said. “Cobalt has been a great resource and builder’s rep for us. FGM Architects have been very responsive to any questions and design aspects. It’s gone incredibly well.”

Looking back on the original intentions of the renovation, Grode said the highest priority was adding security to the school.

This has chiefly been done with an improved main entrance that requires guests to walk through the front office first, though the auditorium and competition gym are also being built in such a way that guests can be gatekept into those specific sections of the school.

“Secure the building, get the building designed so that it has secured entry for instruction, a secured entry for athletics and secured entry for our arts programs where we can have events after school, and people can’t wander our building,” Grode said.

The auditorium and competition gym were also key goals as the district has long relied on the “cafetorium” at Columbia Middle School for performances, and a second, large gym connected to the current gym will allow CHS to host large tournaments.

Grode also mentioned ADA compliance as a main goal, specifically pointing to the addition of an elevator on the side of the building closest to Route 3.

While these additions to CHS will be enjoyed by many students in the future, the renovations come at the end of Grode’s time with the district as he is set to retire this year.

He remarked during the tour with the Republic-Times that the construction plaque for phase one features his name alongside board members and construction companies while the plaque for phase two will feature current Columbia Assistant Superintendent of Schools Amanda Ganey’s name as she steps into his role later this year.

Grode noted his pleasure to see the project coming together after the past several years of effort.

“Watching phase one finally be done has been a long time coming. It is extremely, extremely cool,” Grode said.