ROYAL CITY — A small but enthusiastic crowd came to the Royal School District’s newly remodeled transportation center to celebrate the completion of construction at the district’s four schools.

Seventeen people attended the event, which included a slide presentation by Superintendent Roger Trail, as well as homemade cookies. The traditional gold shovel and oversized scissors were present, but not needed.

“We've really been under construction since 2018,” Trail told the assembly. “That’s five years of construction.”

The project was an ambitious one. All four schools — Red Rock Elementary, Royal Intermediate School, Royal Middle School and Royal High School — at a total cost of $47.96 million.

The work actually started in early 2017, when frozen fire suppression pipes in Red Rock Elementary burst and flooded. The water pressure blew out windows and walls, and because it was a Saturday evening, 400,000 gallons of water poured from the ceiling for hours before being detected.

“We were able to kind of patch the school back together, so the kids could go back to school,” Trail said. “And then we were able to capture a significant amount of state match money, along with some of the insurance money.”

In addition to rebuilding Red Rock, the district had been planning a bond to renovate the schools, Trail said. About the time the elementary school was repaired, in January 2020, voters passed a $16.58 million bond to upgrade the other facilities.

“We've got a pretty solid history of community support, which I'm thankful for,” Trail said. Passing a bond requires a 60%-plus-one vote of approval, unlike a school levy, which requires only 50% plus one vote. Trail estimated the bond passed with about 65% approval.

The process required some patience from students and staff, Trail said, especially at the high school. Royal High School was previously housed in four buildings, he said: besides the main school building, the library and band room had their own building, as did the cafeteria and the gym. All four buildings are now connected, Trail said.

“There were maps all over the building directing students which were the appropriate ways to get to the classrooms, and going around instead of through because a lot of the shorter methods of getting from class to class were temporarily blocked off,” he said. “But now it's quicker. And I think for the students who were there before, hopefully (they’ll appreciate) during the winter not having to go out to go from class to class.”

It wasn’t just the school buildings themselves that got an upgrade. The transportation center (formerly the bus garage, but no longer called that, Trail pointed out) now has a double bus bay, including a complete pull-through so a bus can drive in and straight out the other side of the building.

One of the most important considerations was safety, according to the presentation. All the buildings have a buzz-in vestibule, with unlocked outer doors and a locked inner one that must be opened by staff. The fire suppression systems are new as well. Each building has exterior classroom doors, and the high school now has a single point of entry like the other schools.

“Around the same time that we passed the bond was the Freeman (High School) shooting, and there was a lot of concern about safety in our buildings,” Trail said. “So we felt that it would be good to add a buzz-in vestibule to each building to make each building safer. And also to add the classroom doors, exterior doors, which would provide for a quicker escape route in the case of an emergency.”

Now that construction has been completed, Trail said, school officials can get back to concentrating on their primary objectives: Improving literacy and attendance, and making sure every student has a safe and supportive learning environment.

“I'm really grateful for the community support and being able to pull this off. I'm really proud of how it's turned out, and I love showing off our new facilities to the visitors and people that come by,” he said. “It's a great a great place to educate our kids.”

Joel Martin may be reached via email at jmartin@columbiabasinherald.com.