Fairborn breaks ground on new high school

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FAIRBORN — Officials at Fairborn City Schools broke ground on the site of the new Fairborn High School on Monday afternoon. The $76 million facility will replace the current high school, and include state-of-the-art classrooms, technology, and expanded athletic and arts facilities.

“With the construction of a new high school, Fairborn is making history,” Superintendent Gene Lolli said.

If construction runs on schedule, the current freshman class will be the first class of seniors to walk the halls of the new school upon its completion. The district anticipates the school will open to students in the 2023-2024 school year.

Just over 86 acres, the property is located on Commerce Center Boulevard east of Interstate-675 and north of Dayton-Yellow Springs Road. The new Fairborn High School will include updated classrooms, technology, a 2,000-seat basketball arena, a 5,000-seat football stadium, and a 1,000-seat performing arts center.

“These will be state-of-the-art facilities,” Lolli said. “The community is stepping up. This has been a long time coming.”

Once the high school is complete, students at Baker Middle School will move into the current high school on Dayton-Yellow Springs Road. The district plans to then construct a new Baker Middle School next to the new high school.

“We will have a high school and junior high on the same grounds,” Lolli said. “It makes it that much better for junior high kids to go to the high school and take courses without having to be bussed across town.”

The same is true for sports and athletic events.

“That is tremendous,” Lolli said. “Sports will no longer have to be bussed across town for a football game or a basketball game. Everything is on one site.”

An anonymous donor contributed $2.5 million for purchase of the land in 2020. In November, voters passed a 5.83-mill bond levy to fund the construction of the high school. The passage of the levy also allowed the district to receive a $33 million credit towards a new middle school, funded through the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission, Lolli said.

“If you look around at the surrounding cities and municipalities, you don’t see the same support that Fairborn citizens provide for the schools,” Mayor Paul Keller said. “Without our citizens, we couldn’t do this kind of stuff. The citizens are the ones that pulled this together. We want Fairborn to thrive and be successful as a city, and this is a huge part of it.”

“A lot of great things are happening in this city and in this school system,” Lolli said. “And it’s not just one person, it’s all of us working together.”

Fairborn voters approved a 2.95-mill bond levy in 2016 to build new primary and intermediate schools. The new primary school was completed in 2020, replacing a 60-year old building on the same site. The new Fairborn intermediate school is expected to be completed in August 2022.

Mayor Paul Keller, members of Fairborn City Council, Greene County commissioners, Bath Township trustees, and the Fairborn Chamber of Commerce break ground at the site of the high school.
https://www.fairborndailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2021/06/web1_20210607_164041.jpgMayor Paul Keller, members of Fairborn City Council, Greene County commissioners, Bath Township trustees, and the Fairborn Chamber of Commerce break ground at the site of the high school.

Photos by London Bishop | Greene County News Superintendent Gene Lolli and members of the Fairborn Board of Education ceremonially break ground on the site of the new Fairborn High School.
https://www.fairborndailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2021/06/web1_20210607_164200.jpgPhotos by London Bishop | Greene County News Superintendent Gene Lolli and members of the Fairborn Board of Education ceremonially break ground on the site of the new Fairborn High School.

By London Bishop

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Reach London Bishop at 937-502-4532 or follow @LBishopFDH on Twitter.

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