Over the past three years, the Belpre City School District has placed a bond campaign on the ballot for taxpayers to consider. Below, you can see what each of these bond requests has looked like:
Since its initial campaign in May 2022, the cost for the same facility has gone up by over $5 million dollars due to inflation that occurred due to the impacts of COVID-19. The plan calls for a new building that will sit just south of the current site of the Belpre High School campus in the area where the soccer and marching band teams currently practice.
The image above represents the portion of the 6-12 academic and athletic space for the proposed new campus. The two-story academic wing is on the right side of the image and the athletic building, which would include two gymnasiums, weight room and other ancillary athletic space. The middle is a secure entrance with cafeteria and music education space.
Looking toward the south, you can see a proposed new access road that would allow for a separate entry and exit point for school buses from the main entryway utilized by parents. In the distance, you can see the existing varsity gym which will be retained in the new build as a third gymnasium for use by district and community athletic teams. For reference, the image also includes the current track to help orient the reader to how the existing portions of campus will be incorporated into the new structure.
An additional athletic event entryway, with appropriate parking, would be placed on the eastern side of the new proposed building. Once Phase 1 is complete, the existing Belpre High School building would be demolished to prepare the site for the PreK-5 portion of the campus. That part of the building would be built to the north of the athletic portion of the campus in the white building that can be seen below.
This building would include all of the academic space necessary for our elementary students with a playground located to the east. The elementary portion of the building would include a separate secured entrance and would house students on the opposite side of campus from where the high school students are located. The district would continue to operate separate bus transportation routes for each group of students.
Looking at the proposed facility from another view, you can more clearly see how the structures will all sit on the existing footprint of Belpre High School.
The proposed bond request will be on the May 6, 2025 ballot.