Save the senior squares project is under way

Saturday, Oct. 7, 2000 | 8:40 a.m.

Las Vegas High School seniors had so much pride in the senior squares painted at the bottom of the school's steps that freshman who dared walk on them were told they'd have to clean the squares with a toothbrush.

Today the once vibrant colors of the squares -- painted with the emblem of each graduating class from the Seventh Street and Bridger Avenue school -- are so faded they're barely legible.

Members of several graduating classes will renovate the 5 1/2-by-5/1/2-foot squares that represent seniors from 1946 to 1980.

"We're trying to get as many people as we can," Bob Walker, a 1970 graduate, said. "We want to see that the squares stay put for another 30 years."

Las Vegas High School, built in 1930, was Las Vegas' first secondary school. In 1993, it to 6500 E. Sahara Ave. The building at Seventh and Bridger became the Las Vegas Academy for the International and Performing Arts and is a historical landmark.

In 1980 there was a move to sandblast the squares, but an outcry from alumni saved them.

For information about the project or how to join, visit the Senior Squares Project website at www.woodyw.com/squares.