High school students await new Faith Lutheran campus

Jace Radke

Monday, Nov. 9, 1998 | 11:02 a.m.

The students of Faith Lutheran High School were in a state of disbelief Sunday as they wandered through their new school at 2015 Hualpai Way and Oakey Boulevard, in Northwest Las Vegas.

Part of the new 50,000-square-foot classroom and administration wing of the school opened to sixth and seventh graders on Sept. 8, but the school's ninth through 12th graders have had to be patient while the rest of the wing was completed.

"All we can say is it's about time," said junior Jennifer Spann, after Sunday's dedication ceremony for the first phase of the school. "We always thought the new school was kind of a joke because they've been telling us about it since the eighth grade."

The $10.5 million phase one of construction at the 33-acre Hualapai site houses the administration and 33 classrooms with enough space for 700 students. This year's enrollment was 570 for grades sixth-12.

"It's a lot bigger and nicer then we thought it would be," junior Megan Grasmick said of the building that she and the rest of the high school will move into on Nov. 20, with classes starting in the new building on Nov. 24.

Ground was broken on the first phase of the project in March 1997, with the hope that it would be ready for students at the beginning of the school year.

"I visited the site around Memorial Day and the only thing here was a block wall about four blocks high, so I was worried constantly about the building getting done," Principal Kevin Dunning said. "We've had just sixth and seventh graders here so far, but in two weeks we hit the ground running when we add about 350 kids."

The new school includes computer labs and computer access in all classrooms, a 5,500-square-foot library resource center, a distance-learning classroom with interactive video equipment, and a new football field.

"I love the building," seventh-grade math teacher Bonnie Day said. "It is state of the art and is pleasing both functionally and aesthetically."

Faith Lutheran's new home will have two more phases of construction that will include three more buildings. The next phase of construction will be to complete a 1,200-seat gymnasium, by the end of the school year.

After that a 1,000-seat combination chapel and theater and a 10,000-square-foot student activity center will be constructed. Also student-athletes will not be left out of the bargain with a new football field already constructed and tennis courts and other playing fields on the way.

"We call the new field the mud pit because the new grass has not grown in all the way, but it's a lot better than the old field which we called the rock pit," senior Gabe Arrington said. "We are grateful for all the donations that went into building the field and the new school."

The design of the new school, by Kittrell Garlock and Associates, is something that the Faith Lutheran Board of Directors took a long look at before signing off on the plan, said school spokesperson Margie Desruisseaux.

"We wanted the new campus to have a religious focus and a feel of a small college," Desruisseaux said. "The design includes a bell tower with a cross on top and the chapel will be at the front of the school to reflect the religious focus.

"The four school buildings will be built around a courtyard for a campus look that is important to us because we are a college prep school."

The school, which has been in Las Vegas for 20 years, was originally located at the First Southern Baptist Church on East St. Louis Avenue. In 1982 the school moved into its existing facility at 1251 Robin St.

The 22,000-square-foot Robin Street facility, which the school's enrollment has outgrown, was sold in 1996 to the Clark County School District which will use the site to enlarge its Advanced Technical Academy.