The last beam of the new BHS building was recently raised and the building is on track to be completed in March or April 2026.
The new school will be a 250,000 square foot building equipped for about 250 more students than BHS currently has.
“[It’ll have] four stories of classes, a huge gym with three side by side basketball courts, a full auditorium with state of the art technology, a theater, a beautiful library and many, many huge windows,” Principal Sabrina Westdijk said. “So a lot of natural light, and a huge skylight that will be over the cafeteria that filters down through all four floors. It’ll be a really beautiful, bright building.”
Superintendent Tom Flanagan said the new building will have a strong focus on accessibility and inclusivity, as well as state of the art safety features.
“I don’t think there’ll be anything like it in Vermont at the time when we build it,” Flanagan said.
Flanagan said they wanted a connection to the outdoor area and wanted everyone to be together “in less structured ways and in ways that were comfortable, filled with light and filled with open space.”
“I’m really looking forward to the layout and how new everything’s gonna be,” Debba Beynnon ’27 said. “And just feeling more like a school.”
So what’s going to become of the current BHS building? Donald Sinex is a managing member of the group of investors that owns the Macy’s building. He says they plan to redevelop the Macy’s site into a better community asset. However, he says it’s too early to give specific details about what this entails.
“The plan generally speaking is to redevelop the property into a better and higher use that will better serve the overall community and result in far more communal benefits than the existing Macy’s building offers,” Sinex said.
But the District lease may run for another three years, or longer, and markets can change far quicker than that.
“We must wait and see what conditions arise in the marketplace to plan the most exciting, effective and successful redevelopment project for the Macy’s site,” Sinex said.
Sinex added that a redevelopment of Macy’s will generate a lot more real estate tax revenues that the City could allocate in ways that benefit the entire community, including adding resources for community safety, education and recreation.
“The plan for any redevelopment of the Macy’s site will be guided by the principles of design, effectiveness in meeting demand, environmental integrity and quality and community improvement and betterment,” Sinex said.
Westdijk reflected on the Macy’s building.
“Some advisories and teachers are proposing other murals to add to the building,” Wesdijk said. She said that some of these murals could be taken and installed in the new building as a tribute.
Westdijk seems excited about the new school, but there are a few things she appreciates about this building, including the feeling of connection this more condensed space brings.
“We have a school that feels like a normal school. We have high quality teachers, and we have clubs, and we have extracurriculars and we found ways to make all of those things work,” Wesdijk said.
The challenges, according to Westdijk, come from the space itself. She acknowledged that the constant sound traveling, the struggles P.E. programs face without facilities and outdoor spaces and the lack of natural light can make it difficult.
Flanagan brought up an additional struggle: the lack of a space for the student body to gather.
“I’m excited for us to be back together as a community, and to have a space for us to gather as a community,” Flanagan said. “It’s been hard to pull together, for the high school to have to walk to the Flynn or find spaces to come together.”
The new school will provide many spaces for the BHS community to come together for assemblies, ceremonies, and performances.
“I’m really excited for the huge boost in morale and the pride that I think people feel being in the new space,” Westdijk said. “When I was at the raising the beam ceremony last week and all kinds of community members came out, it really hit me how much it’ll mean for the community of Burlington to have such a nice high school in our city.”
As construction on the new building continues, Macy’s will continue to serve as our high school. But if progress continues as predicted, the class of 2026 may be the first class to graduate from the brand new BHS.
“I think that the staff and students in this building have been incredibly resilient,” said Westdijk. “[They’ve] really made the best of a pretty tough situation in this building.”
