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WEST VALLEY CITY — First they were shaken up by Utah's most significant earthquake in decades, then by the educational and emotional disruptions of COVID-19.
West Lake STEM Junior High Principal Tyler Howe says students have demonstrated incredible resilience while dealing with multiple challenges over the past two years.
"We were displaced by an earthquake, all of us have endured a pandemic, we are living out of an awesome elementary campus and our students are still standing," Howe said, despite the challenges that arose with having to move school operations to Taylorsville. "West Lake is as good as it gets. We are West Lake."
Two years to the day since students and faculty of West Lake STEM Junior High were displaced after the school suffered damages in a 5.7 magnitude earthquake, students, parents and district leaders gathered Friday for a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the new school.
After the earthquake, Clint Mecham, Salt Lake County Emergency Management division chief, in a meeting with the Salt Lake County Council described the damage as "substantial" and "structural."
This damage resulted in district officials relocating students, faculty and staff to Westbrook Elementary School in Taylorsville — five miles from the old West Lake STEM building.
Then came a decision for the district. It could either pay to repair the "substantial" damage done to the old building or start from the ground with a new facility. The choice, for the Granite School Board, was easy.
"Obviously our board cares about safety, so the decision was pretty easy to look at that and say, 'We want a school that we can guarantee is safe (and) up to date for the safety of our kids,'" said Karyn Winder, president of the Granite School Board.
The district contracted MHTN Architects to design the new school and the building will be built by Hogan and Associates Construction, both Utah-based companies.
With construction underway, it is anticipated the new building at 3450 W. 3400 South will be ready to host students in August 2024.
"We're closing a chapter in the history of West Lake, but opening another and it'll be a wonderful chapter as these young people go forward with the help of you as parents and us as a community," said Terry Bawden, Granite School Board member.
