Ludington Schools prepares for middle school, high school renovations. 

Concept drawing of new high school entrance.

Ludington Schools prepares for middle school, high school renovations. 

Oriole News is a presentation of Ludington Area School District in partnership with Mason County Press. 

By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief.

LUDINGTON — Ludington Area School District is preparing to move into the next stages of its facilities improvements by addressing updates to the high school and middle school. The repairs are part of the $100 million bond that was approved by district voters in May 2019. The first stage in the bond was the construction of Ludington Elementary School at Bryant Road and Jebavy Drive in Pere Marquette Township. 

Concept drawing of new middle school cafeteria.

Superintendent Kyle Corlett said one of the biggest additions to the complex renovations will be the construction of a new cafeteria in the middle school. The remainder of the project will consist of securing entrances, updating the heating system, additional bathrooms, and new furnishings. 

Corlett said there has been some misunderstandings in the community about what type of renovations will take place in the high school and middle school. 

“There were things in the project that were in the tentative plans that were not in the original campaign,” Corlett said. “The campaign had just immediate needs such as placing a new roof on the middle school and remodeling the middle school and high school. Then there were other things in the plans that were not campaigned on, which included knocking down the walls in the high school to make it bigger and building other new classrooms. When we went out for bids in December, the prices were too high. We needed to revisit those plans and needed to see what we could eliminate in the budget.” 

Corlett said the main goal of the project is to make the buildings look and feel new. 

In addition to a new middle school library, there are plans for the main entrance of the high school to be re-configured, according to high school principal Dan Mesyar. The administrative offices and a new main entrance will be moved to the east side of the building, adjacent to Hawley Gymnasium. 

Concept drawing of new high school administrative offices.

“This will give the school a whole new look and feel,” Mesyar said. “It will also be a more secured entrance. We are pretty excited about these changes.” 

Corlett said bids for steel are expected to go out next month with the rest of the construction bids taking place the beginning of summer.  

Ludington High School was built in 1957. It was originally 31,800 square feet with 17 classrooms, shop classrooms, gymnasium, a kitchen and cafeteria. In 1969, an additional 3,730 square feet was added to the southeast side of the building that included three more classrooms. In 1974, 9,250 square feet was added that included four more classrooms, auto shop, a drafting shop and a graphics shop. In 1990, a 2,000 square feet expansion and remodel took place. 

O.J. DeJonge Middle School was built in 1965 (originally it was called O.J. DeJonge Junior High School) at 105,867 square feet. It originally had 30 classrooms. In 1970, an additional 34,000 square feet project added 18 more classrooms. In 1974, a 43,400 square feet addition included construction of L.F. Peterson Auditorium and a gym/cafeteria. In 1997, a 5,867 square feet project included renovations and the addition of two science rooms. 

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