Located in the eastern sector of the city, this existing high school opened in 1952 and during the years of segregation served a black student body. In the late 1990's, there was a recommendation to demolish the school. It was met with considerable protest from its community because this high school was one of the first new high schools at that time to be constructed for the black community. Because it was held in such high esteem by so many of its graduates and because of its solid construction, the decision was made to renovate and add on.
The program included the following: a new addition to include drama, band, media center, art room, elevator and a new front entry and the renovation of over 150,000 gross square feet of exiting spaces to include renovations to the auditorium, guidance, administration, science classrooms, computer classrooms in the vacated old media center area, existing window retrofit, and site changes to include a redesign of existing vehicular flow at the main entrance to allow for parent pick-up and drop-off. The largest courtyard to the East was selected for the addition for the following reasons: bus pick up and drop off was located there, the eastern facade has several entrances and the asphalted area serves as a plaza and stroll-way especially with the football stadium adjacency and the cafeteria off the courtyard.
