In April 2023, a few Bryce Valley High School teachers went to the school board to ask about two capital improvements projects for the high school: updated locker rooms, and a new athletic facility. Starting last year, those projects are in full swing.
Upon completion, the athletic facility will stand on the hill directly west of the track, kitty corner to the school. The project also includes redoing Bryce Valley’s parking lot and locker rooms, and building a track shed lower near the track. Currently, the shed is done, and the athletic facility is under construction. Garfield County School District’s business administrator, Lane Mecham, says he expects the finished product by early 2026.
“It’s a big project,” said Lane, but he wants to finish the athletic facility before wrestling season begins next November. Previously, the wrestlers had been using a temporary mobile office container for practices — one of the buildings Bryce Valley Elementary used as a short-term classroom while their school was being built. Now the wrestlers would have a larger and more sustainable dedicated space.
And the building is not just for wrestling.
“There’s a reason we’re calling it a multi-purpose building,” said Lane. The completed Bryce Valley athletic facility will be 8,698 square feet. There is room for wrestling and cheerleading practices, as well as turf for baseball players if they need it. And if Bryce Valley ever decided to get a football program, they could use it for that too. There will also be a separate room in the building for weightlifting facilities.
Plus, all this will be open to not just high school athletes, but the public to use, said Lane.
Bryce Valley High School thanks Garfield County School District, Garfield County Road Department, A-OK Tree Service, Hughes General Contractors, Caddy Creek Construction, and VCBO Architecture for bringing such an exciting addition to the school.
– The Byway
Read more about local school construction in New Elementary School in Wayne to Replace LES.