The new 420,000-square-foot Ames High School will be a tremendous asset to the local community when it is completed in fall 2023. The nearly $140 million project will have many features that make it an impressive facility.

New features will include:

• Wing with “academic pods,” promoting collaboration outside of the classroom

• State-of-the-art natatorium with an eight-lane, stretch-25 pool

• Auditorium with box seating and a balcony

• Competition gymnasium with a basketball court and four-lane indoor track

• Practice gymnasium with an indoor batting cage, a weight room, and rooms dedicated to wrestling and dance

“Sometimes we get so focused on our jobs and the task at hand that we forget that our end goal is to build houses and buildings where people will live their lives,” said National Gypsum Company sales representative James LaBelle.

“When you think about the thousands of kids that will walk those halls and begin to grow into whoever they become, you realize we really are building the future.”