18 months of Miller work is finally coming to fruition

By ANNA MITCHELL
anna@readthereporter.com

Noblesville High School’s (NHS) athletic and academic expansions are nearing the finish line after 18 months of work.

Construction started at the end of 2022. The athletic portion is finished this month, and the academic portion will be finished August 2025.

Both expansions are funded through a bond. According to school officials, the projects do not raise taxes nor do they use referendum or classroom dollars.

“As your superintendent, I do not ever take that funding for granted,” Superintendent Dan Hile said. “I don’t take any of these things for granted because I know that it matters. We want to be good stewards of our community’s tax dollars and make sure that we’re doing amazing things for our children because these are the Noblesville residents of tomorrow.”

The project begins with the athletic expansion’s renovations, which added on 36,000 square feet for:

• New courts
• Additional girls’ locker rooms
• Classroom space
• Athletic office space
• New wrestling room
• Enhancements for cheerleading
• Enhancements for volleyball

The girls’ locker rooms now have metal lockers equipped with hooks and rods on which to hang equipment. The new courts have automatic controls to raise and lower volleyball nets and other equipment. With the new controls, teachers can save both time and space in the gym.

NHS is adding 70,000 square feet and renovating 37,000 square feet of the academic portion for:

• Up to 22 new classrooms, including space for STEM and traditional academic courses
• Construction and welding labs
• Hands-on STEM makerspace
• A second student cafe
• Renovated large group instruction room to provide flexible meeting space
• Expanded jazz space
• New percussion and piano lab areas
• Expanded choir facilities, storage, and sound proofing

While NHS is starting with the athletic portion, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications Marnie Cooke said that this does not mean they value athletics above academics.

On the contrary, NHS is expanding both aspects because both are in demand. The student population has grown 25 percent since 2012, and the high school is at capacity with approximately 3,300 students.

Enrollment in STEM classes has increased by 193 percent and performing arts enrollment has increased by 76 percent. NHS is preparing to equip students and give them new opportunities.

“This is a really exciting opportunity for our kids and for our community,” Cooke said. “We needed this space. We are at capacity at the high school. This space is needed. It’s also going to bring opportunities for community groups to come in and use this space in addition to our kids. So I think there’s a lot of exciting growth. Next year when we’re able to open up our STEM area and performing arts area – those are two areas that we are champions in, you know, in Noblesville. We have had huge growth in those areas. So I think this is going to be a really exciting opportunity.”

Hile said that he is thankful for the community’s support for this project and others like it. He said that he does not take for granted the value the community has in investing in local kids.

Reporter photos by Anna Mitchell