Garfield High Reopening Hitting Crunch Time

More than 25 months later, $100 million plus, and a few construction delays, the massive renovations at Garfield High School are entering the home stretch. It really is a total makeover if you haven't walked, biked or driven by. Crews are working in overdrive to get things finished up in time for the new school year. It's apparently going to be close. For the past two years, roughly 1,400 students have been taking classes at the former Lincoln High School across town. Now the transition back into the refurbished home of the Bulldogs is underway. Staff is expected to be in place at the New Garfield by the end of August, with the first day of school being September 3rd.

This week, as work continues inside the main buildings, the new artificial turf for the sports field off of 24th is being put in. This appears to be the similar type of synthetic turf or FieldTurf that's being used at other ball fields in the city.

After classes get into a groove, September 25th will kickoff a long weekend of grand reopening festivities at the school. Should be a lot of fun, with a huge pep rally in the new gym and auditorium (now called the Quincy Jones Performance Center) set for that Friday afternoon; a parade down 23rd Avenue on tap for that Saturday morning, followed by a day-long festival at the school; and that Sunday, an open house for all of us in the neighborhood eager to see what the refurbished INSIDE looks like. For current information at a terrifically done website, check out www.celebrategarfield.org, including if you'd like to volunteer.