Town Of Hayden Seeks To Re-Purpose High School Building

HAYDEN, Colo. (CBS4) - The town of Hayden is looking to transform its soon-to-be vacant high school building into a community center. The Steamboat Pilot reports the new community center on W. Jefferson Ave. could include a gym, performance space and more community meeting space.

The Hayden School District is relocating all students to a new pre-kindergarten through 12th grade building in the Fall of 2020. The Steamboat Pilot reports construction on the new school building kicked off in March next to Hayden Valley Elementary. It was funded, in part, by a $38.8 million BEST grant from the state of Colorado.

According to the Steamboat Pilot, the grant requires the old school to be demolished unless it is purchased by another public entity. Hayden Mayor Tim Redmond told the newspaper the town may save the gym, auditorium and some of the classrooms in the old secondary school.

Redmond said most of the middle school would be demolished and the Babson-Carpenter Center would become a school bus barn. The district could also sell or redevelop the football field, according to Redmond.

Redmond told the Steamboat Pilot the new space will house the local nonprofit Totally Kid's, which organizes activities and after school programs for kids.

The newspaper reports the Colorado Center for Community Development at the University of Colorado Denver is studying how classrooms can be renovated and re-purposed to better serve the community. The work is funded in part by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.