One of the members of the Morris Community High School Board, Lynn Vermillion, expressed disbelief that the groundbreaking was here already.

Time has moved fast in the year or so since voters passed a $67 million referendum proposed by Morris Community High School District 101 that will see the school’s unattached buildings demolished and a new addition attached, changing the school’s current L-shape into a square with a courtyard in the center.

Superintendent Craig Ortiz said he’s been in the district for 39 years, counting when he started as a freshman in high school, and his time as a teacher before becoming superintendent.

“We’ve talked for a long time about this,” Ortiz said. “Wouldn’t it be nice?”

Ortiz said one of the most important things about the addition is that it gets every student under one roof. Currently, students are in and out of the main building to get into separate smaller buildings, like the art annex that currently houses the district office. Students make this trip rain or shine, and Ortiz said if there’s a tornado warning, they have to scramble back into the main building.

He said part of the project will see classrooms modernized, HVAC improved, and improved traffic flow around the building.

“We’re going to use geothermal for our HVAC,” Ortiz said. “We live in a part of the country where we have 140 degree temperature swings in a year. Truly, in our building, we probably have a 40-degree temperature swing. That’s not good.”

Ortiz said the addition also gets the cafeteria out of the basement, and puts the music, band, and choir programs next to the auditorium so students aren’t dragging instruments across the parking lot.

Brendan Keane, with Bulley and Andrews, the construction firm managing the project, said this is an especially important project for them: Site Superintendent Phil Kay is a Morris High School graduate who lives in Morris.

“I was lucky enough to work on a school that my daughter attended, and that’s a project I’m very proud of,” Keane said. “I learned from experience that civic pride is a great motivator. When you work in your hometown, you do your best work.”

Ortiz thanked his school board, volunteers, and the district employees who made getting the project approved by referendum possible on the first attempt.

He said the 101Next committee came together to knock on doors, answer questions, host open houses, and help promote the process.