Grimsley High School - Facilities

Facilities

The Westover Terrace GHS campus, which opened in 1929, is unusual in that it is made up of multiple buildings (a conscious decision of the school board in the late 1920s), rather than just one all-encompassing building. The Main Building, Old Science Building, and Cafeteria Building—three of six originally proposed structures—were built in 1929. The cost of living had risen so much in the late 20's that the other three could not be built at that time; the onset of the Great Depression—soon after the new campus opened—further delayed expansion of the campus.

Today the campus consists of the Main building (1929), which has offices and classrooms on the first floor, classrooms on the second and third floors, and the 1500+ seat John Barnes Chance-M. Thomas Cousins Auditorium. The Old Science Building (1929) has two stories of classrooms. Immediately behind it is the one-story New Science building (1975). There is a two-story Home Economics Building (1956). The one-story Library Building (1967/expanded 2003) has two classrooms as well as the GHS library. The Cafeteria Building (1929) has the school's lunchroom on the first floor, and classrooms on the second. The two-story Herbert R. Hazelman Music Building (1956, named 2004) contains the band, orchestra, and choir rooms, plus numerous practice rooms and two classrooms. The Vocational Building (1942) has two-stories of classrooms. Plans are complete (as of early 2011) for a new Cafeteria Building (authorized by a bond vote in 2008), to be constructed behind and between the Home Economics and New Science buildings.

Across the service road from the academic buildings are GHS's athletic facilities. The Robert R. Sawyer '55 Gym (1954, originally the "Boys' Gym," then the "Main Gym", named in 2000) was the largest high school gym in North Carolina when built, and was architecturally significant because it had the largest unsupported concrete beams ever built in an American building when it was new. The Auxiliary Gym (1939, originally the "Girls' Gym") has a basketball court, a weight-training facility, and a classroom. Connected to the Sawyer Gym is the John Gordon Dewey '71 Memorial Swimming Pool, which opened in 1976. Behind the Sawyer Gym and Dewey Pool are eight tennis courts (1975), a practice field, and the Softball Field (1980's). Across Campus Drive are the other athletic facilities, the Robert B. Jamieson Football Stadium (1949, named in 1975), which includes a track (1958) and the Sigmund Selig Pearl Memorial Field House (1950), and beyond the football stadium, the Willie Young/Lewis McCall Memorial Baseball Field (1953, named in 1974 and 2007), and the Cross Country trail (1962). The 2008 bond referendum, besides authorizing a new cafeteria for Grimsley, also includes money for a major overhaul of both the Sawyer Gym and Jamieson Stadium, as well as the construction of a new track stadium and a new softball field.

The original wooden covered walkways connecting the various campus buildings were built in the 1930s, and most were replaced (although a few of the originals remain) with two-story brick covered walkways built in 2002–03 (as originally planned in 1929), when the campus was made ADA compliant (and air conditioned), funded by money approved in a bond referendum in 2000. The Grove (developed in 1963), a large outdoor social area between the Main and Music buildings is a popular spot for eating lunch and hanging out. Originally the majority of the Grove was covered with gravel, but it was paved with cement in late 1973. Besides the paved areas, there also is an area with a mulch ground covering, and several large trees which provide shade for many picnic tables.