Ribbon cutting held for new Poplar Bluff Jr. High School activity center
POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. (KBSI) – The Poplar Bluff Junior High School held a ribbon cutting for a new 8,700 square foot activity center on Friday, January 2.
The facility was designed locally by Dille and Pollard Architecture and constructed by C.E. Norton.
It features three classroom spaces, a large multipurpose room with 12-foot high ceilings, a state-of-the-art weight room, restrooms and storage.
“We’re super excited for it to finally come to fruition,” said Candace Warren, Junior High principal. “The new state-of-the-art facility provides a much better educational learning environment for our students, plus a building visible from the highway that we can all be proud of.”
The previous structure, in the exact location at the backend of Fred M. Morrow stadium, represented one the oldest buildings across campus dating back to 1937.
The weight room was formerly housed in the lobby above the main gymnasium, also 87 years old.
Junior High physical education teacher Jeff Mannon is credited for working with Show Me Weights to equip the new headquarter with custom racks, cardio machines, free weights, kettlebells, medicine balls, battle ropes and more.
“We were fortunate to be able to finance this project out of district balances with careful management of our capital project budget by the Board of Education and previous school administration, while in large part keeping the work local,” stated Dr. Aaron Cornman, R-I superintendent.
