New pool part of improvements to East High

East High School's swim team performed a ceremonial first dive into the school's new swimming pool Friday afternoon.

East has been without a pool since 2003, when the existing pool was destroyed to make room for additions to the high school after the 2000 bond issue passed. The pool is the school's first project to be completed as part of a $370 million bond issue approved by voters in 2008.

East High's bond improvements this time include two large additions and renovations. The pool addition includes a new small gym, which will serve as a Federal Emergency Management Agency-approved storm shelter.

The second addition is a music suite with vocal and instrumental music rooms. That addition also will include a stage and stagecraft area and will serve as another FEMA-approved storm shelter.

The old music rooms will be renovated into technical education classrooms. The current small gym will be converted into a theater. The school's family and consumer science classrooms and the child development center will move out of a portable classroom into permanent space.

East's new swimming pool is one of eight pools being built or renovated as part of the 2008 bond issue. The Wichita school board authorized a contract with Vanum Construction Co. Inc. for $5.7 million in 2010 to build the pools.

One of the pools is part of a new high school under construction at 53rd Street North and Rock Road in Bel Aire, which is scheduled to open next fall. A new high school planned for southeast Wichita is on hold because of budget concerns.

Before the bond issue, the district's newest swimming pool, at Northwest High, was 33 years old. North High School's pool is nearly 80 years old.

This story was originally published September 23, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "New pool part of improvements to East High."