Written by Hanford High National Honor Society dedication publicity committee: Cecil Qiu, Max Li, and Zach Hansen Dusting off almost three years of construction debris, Hanford High School will open its doors for public tours and a dedication on Monday, November 17. Tours will be held at 6:15 p.m. and 8:15 p.m., with the dedication ceremony in the auditorium at 7:30 p.m. (see complete schedule below)  We are very excited about our new building and are looking forward to showcasing the facility," said Hanford Principal Ken Gosney.  It was a long process, but we are all proud of the result." The dedication will have speakers from Integrus Architecture of Spokane, Richland public schools, and current Hanford student leaders.  The best part of working on the project was working with the Richland School District," said Rick Berg, Integrus principal architect for Hanford.  The district was great, made good decisions and always looked toward ways of improving the project." Jazz I, under the direction of Mike Bryan, will perform before the dedication ceremony. A reception, sponsored by Hanford's dedicated booster parents, will be held at 8 p.m. Student-led tours will highlight new features of the building, including the commons, science facilities, art rooms, athletic weight training rooms, business labs, library and classrooms. Classrooms have an array of technology that will also be on display to visitors. For a complete schedule and other information about the open house and dedication see the Richland School District website at www.rsd.edu. Richland voters passed a $78 million bond in April of 2003 to remodel and build five different projects. The largest of these projects was at Hanford where entire buildings were gutted and new facilities built. The total remodel cost for Hanford was $49.1 million. The state contributed $26.7 million matching dollars for the project. According to Berg, one of the challenges of the project was integrating the old buildings with new construction into a cohesive whole. Several older buildings were torn down while others were connected with construction. Two buildings, the vocational building and library, are connected with canopied walkways for reasons of economy and technical challenges related to different floor levels. Planning and design took approximately 13 months, said Berg. At that time the building was let out to bid, with Garco Construction of Spokane winning the contract in August of 2005. Executive Director of Student Services, Todd Baddley, supervised most of the project while principal at Hanford High. Baddley noted that his favorite part of the project was gathering diverse ideas together to create a vision for the building.  Acquiring what everyone wants, pulling from the wants to the needs, to create a safe, academic facility" was the most challenging part according to Baddley. Construction began in the fall of 2005 and was completed the spring of 2008. During the building phase different parts of the building opened and closed, while students made long walks around construction fences. Zach Hanson, a senior at Hanford, fondly remembers the day a water main was broken causing a fountain and flood in the gym. Everyone was let out of school and hour early that day.  I was a freshman when construction started and am really glad to be in the new building now," said Hanson.  No more duct tape carpets." Evening Schedule: 6:00 - Doors open to the public 6:15 to 7:00 - Tours Available 7:10-7:30 - Jazz I performing in the auditorium 7:30 - Dedication Ceremony 8:00 - Reception 8:15-9:00 - Tours Available