BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Construction continues on Burlington’s new high school, and now we’re getting our first look inside the building.
Work is expected to happen throughout the winter and into next year, and the school will welcome its first students in 2026.
Our first look at the new Burlington High School shows open spaces and plenty of windows. The gym and commons areas are coming together quickly.
“It was really nice to see the walls up. There’s warmth in there. So the work can continue and we’re just feeling really positive about the experience today and where we’re headed in the future here in Burlington with our new building,” said Tom Flanagan, the superintendent of the Burlington School District.
Flanagan says it will be worth the wait after asbestos at the former campus pushed back the opening date by a year.
The building also needed a $165 million taxpayer bond to get off the ground and the district says they continue to be mindful of other costs. It’s slated to cost more than $200 million.
It’s a major upgrade from the current school in a defunct Macy’s store downtown after state PCB regulations forced them out of the school in 2020.
“They’ve been in Macy’s without, which has been a wonderful place, but there are not windows there. So it will be nice to have some windows and be able to get some of that natural light. And I’m just looking forward to us being all together on a campus in in that way again,” Flanagan said.
Congresswoman Becca Balint touted federal funds to help improve the school’s stormwater system which will help drainage issues on campus, provide another educational space and help protect the lake.
“To see how carefully the thought has been given about making sure that the water is going through all these different stages of purification as it moves its way down closer to the lake, I think that makes good sense for even people who don’t know a whole lot about stormwater runoff, you want to make sure that you’re doing everything that you can to filter out those impurities,” said Balint, D-Vermont.
Burlington property taxpayers have already felt a minor effect of the tax impact and that’s expected to grow next fiscal year.