Remodeled Laconia High School kitchen open for public viewing June 12

LACONIA — As the Laconia School District celebrates the 100th year of Laconia High School on the Union Avenue campus, they are working on construction upgrades to the building.

In June of 2022, the Laconia School Board approved the use of $6.7 million in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds the district received for COVID relief to add ventilation to the 1923 building, individualize the bathrooms, and to renovate the kitchen where food is served to students in the cafeteria. These projects began last fall and are being completed this summer.

The temporary partition wall will come down from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, June 12, and the kitchen will be open for the public to see.

Below are some pictures to show the progress of the work we have done at this point.

So far, permanent cold storage units have been installed. Rooftop ventilation units are scheduled to be installed this month. The serving area will be more open and designed for better workflow for the kitchen staff. New windows will allow students and staff to see into the serving area and into the cafeteria from the other side. There will be two openings for students to check out on both sides of the glass. These openings will have pull-down doors to be used when the kitchen is closed. There will also be windows offering a view of the kitchen manager’s office.

The six single bathrooms on the ground floor have been tiled with drains. Sinks and toilets have been installed. Work on the second and third floor bathrooms is scheduled for this summer and they should be open for the 2024-25 school year.

Last month, the school board and city council approved the use of reserve funds for expanded ventilation work into the math wing of the 1936 building and to upgrade the locker rooms. LHS has state-of-the art athletic facilities, with a gym that has new stadium seats and a refinished floor, and the Jim Fitzgerald Athletic Field in the Bank of New Hampshire Stadium which opened in 2013. The renovation of the locker rooms will be a great step to making the athletic facilities on the campus truly state-of-the-art.

This work is a part of our continued effort to maintain and upgrade facilities at LHS and throughout the school district. Construction projects like these impact school operations. Staff, students and families at LHS have been flexible in keeping the building running knowing the final product is going to be a great improvement to the campus. Rist-Frost-Shumway and Harvey Construction are working on the projects.