T-L Photo/DYLAN McKENZIE A slide shows the layout of the new school building that will soon be constructed for the Harrison Hills City School District. The new building will have a 21st century feel to it, containing state-of-the-art education facilities for the students.

CADIZ — Members of the public gathered in the Harrison Hills High School auditorium Tuesday evening for a special meeting regarding the district’s new school building.

The Harrison Hills City School District Board of Education held a special meeting to discuss the new building that will soon be under construction. The state-of-the-art building will house students from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Superintendent Dana Snider welcomed the crowd and thanked the public for their support of the new school. Snider said that the school will be important not only in the short term, but also years down the line, and will leave a legacy for generations to come.

Snider introduced Greg Galieti, a senior project manager for SHP, the design firm responsible for designing the new building. Galieti spoke at length about the new features of the building, which he promised will provide an excellent space for students to learn.

“It will be more of a 21st-century educational space,” he said.

Galieti said the new building will have separate wings for the high school, middle school and elementary school. The facility will have a lot of open spaces, utilizing natural light throughout the school.

Galieti showed several animations that took the audience on a virtual tour of the future school, letting them get a feel for all that the building will offer. One of the features of the new school will be the extended learning areas that are scattered throughout the wings of the school. These are more informal learning areas than traditional classrooms, where students can gather for group projects, or teachers can have students from two different classrooms partner up.

After the presentation, Galieti and the board answered several questions about the new school. Galieti confirmed that the new building will be fully Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant, and that they have even added a lower hand rail on the staircases after a parent expressed concerns her child might not be able to reach the standard-sized rail.

He also answered a question about school safety, saying the building will have a panic button that will allow them to lock down the building quickly in case of an intruder or other dangerous situation. The button will be linked to the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department and Cadiz Police Department, allowing a swift response to any danger.

Snider also answered a question regarding sidewalks for the children to get to the school. She said both the Harrison County Commission and Cadiz Village Council are “working diligently” on grants to update and improve the sidewalks and walking trails that will surround the new school.

Early construction on the roads and infrastructure around the site are set to begin in April. Galieti said early building construction is set to begin sometime in late August, with the goal of being finished for the 2019 school year.