BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Construction workers building Burlington’s new high school marked a milestone Friday, raising the final steel beam in a topping-off ceremony.
The beam, decorated with the school’s sea horse mascot and featuring signatures from hundreds of students and community members, is a crowning achievement that Burlington School District Superintendent Tom Flanagan says he’s been thinking a lot about.
“I hope we see a school where students and staff are supported and feel a sense of belonging, where we see evidence of our north star every day, where all learners are challenged, empowered, and engaged,” he said.
The construction team has been working on the building for over 500 days and has put in over 130,000 work hours. Now, the crew will move on to putting up walls and finishing the main atrium.
The former BHS campus was abandoned in the fall of 2020 after concerns of PCB contamination. The district scrambled and after spring break was able to move into the defunct Macy’s downtown, where classes will continue until the replacement campus is completed in 2026.