PAROWAN – In 1929 a two-story brick structure was built on Parowan’s Main Street for the education of the community’s students.

Some departments, and the library, were still housed in what is commonly known as the “old yellow building,” retired Parowan teacher Sandra Benson said, but the beautiful new structure provided added space. As the years went on, many of Parowan’s sons and daughters were educated there, and changes were made, but the building still stood as the focal point of the institution.

An addition on the north side was built in 1953, expanding the gym, Benson said. In 1968, after the old yellow building was torn down, another building was constructed on the south side of the 1929 building, and the two were connected. In the mid-1990s, another addition was made, again on the north, providing the current gym.

The buildings that then comprised the school were something of an odd hodge-podge that was not really compliant with the American’s with Disabilities Act.

Paul Maggio, Iron County School District director of secondary education and director of new facilities, said the whole process was kind of started by the need to make the school more accessible.

When they got looking at it, it was determined that the old building had so many problems they would be much better off financially and better able to meet the school’s needs if they tore it down and started over, he said.

In June 2008 demolition began on the center portion of Parowan High School, with all its history. The goal was to re-create the old façade as much as possible, and have an entirely new interior that would make the school more functional and accessible for current and future students, faculty and staff, Maggio said.

That goal has now been accomplished, with the new construction finished. Crews were very busy over the holiday break putting on all the finishing touches, including painting the window frames, some finish electrical, getting the computer systems worked out, and more. Maggio said the goal was to have it ready for move-in when school resumed Monday.

The new building ties the other two buildings together, with a nice, wide, accessible hall, and puts the offices right inside the school’s main entrance. This makes the new, historic-looking portion the main entrance, and orients the front of the school so it’s facing Main Street.

In addition to the administrative and counseling offices, the new portion of the building also includes a new auxiliary gym, a new weight room, a new Family and Consumer Sciences (home economics) lab, five classrooms, new art and ceramics spaces, and two large computer labs.

The hallway that connects the north and south portions of the building had the unique challenge of compensating for a 7-foot grade difference, so it is split down the middle with decorative cinderblock and one half has occasional stairs while the other half has occasional ramps. Blue and yellow soft lighting on the cinderblock adds to the décor.

On the west wall of the hallway, visible from the entrance, there is a large trophy case.

Superintendent Jim Johnson said he was very happy with the way the building turned out.

Maggio said it was important to the district that the new façade look as much like the original as possible. When they tore the old building down, they tried to preserve as many elements as possible, and were able to save several pieces of pre-cast concrete, including some that said “Parowan High School,” “19,” and “29,” and two that had gold owls on them.

Above the entrance, at the top of the school, there were some tiles that looked like blue flowers growing out of pots, and though they were unable to remove the old tiles intact, they photographed them and had them replicated for the new structure, Maggio said.

“It was quite a project to bring that back and have it look like the original building,” he said.

Gail Harris, PHS Humanities Department chair, said she was impressed with the way the district and builders went above and beyond to get the detail of the tiles and the owls.

“We are so happy with the replication of this building,” she said. “There’s just a lot of discussion about what pain and detail they went to to really replicate it.”

She said she has heard a lot of positive comments about how well it has been done and people are amazed at how they kept the arch above the door and how well the artistic details have been preserved and replicated.

Maggio said another detail that a lot of care was taken with was the Ram sculpture out front. The sculpture by James Marsico, which was donated to the school in 2005 by Daryl R. Halterman and Ralph M. Halterman in memory of their parents, Robert L. and Butella Rasmussen Halterman, is now even more of a focal point at the school’s entrance.

It is centered in front of the doors, and the sidewalk curves around it on both sides. There is also a customized railing around it with the letters “PHS” formed by the metal.

“It kind of shows off the ram as the real, integral centerpiece to the entry of the school,” Maggio said.

Though the new construction on the school is finished, the entire Parowan High School project is not quite completed, Maggio said. There are three phases, with the first phase being the demolition of the old building. This took some time as asbestos sampling and abatement was required, and they tried to preserve many historic details. The second phase was the construction.

Phase three will begin now, and includes remodeling the old office area into classrooms, converting the old FACS lab into a faculty room and storage area, and putting fire sprinklers throughout the school. It will probably take almost a year, Maggio said.

In conjunction with Parowan’s birthday celebration next Wednesday the school will be open for tours from 6 to 7 p.m. The construction manager and architect will be there.