Central Campus
LTHS recognizes the historical significance of Central Campus and the attachment residents have towards the building. Many in the community attended school at Central, and what becomes of the campus is of great concern to them. Be assured, what happens to Central Campus is of concern to the administration of LTHS as well.
Why can’t we keep Central as a working campus?
Unfortunately, Central is no longer a viable school campus as the cost of upkeep has become too high. Central Campus can comfortably hold around a 1,000 students and is currently at capacity while operating as the Freshman Center. The building is in fair condition. The immediate problems we face at Central are violations in the Life Safety Code. Based on conversations with architects, the cost to refurbish Central Campus would be upwards of $30 million. This cost would update the building and bring it into code and put it on an equitable footing with East campus. The problem is, even after the investment of such a large amount of capital, Central still would only be able to hold 1,000 students, which means we will have made no headway in solving the problems of overcrowding.
What will become of Central Campus if it is vacated as a High School Campus?
We can’t give you a definite answer at this time, because no developers are willing to spend the money on the necessary studies until a referendum is passed; they won’t invest time and money until the building is actually available. What we can say is this: LTHS is committed to preserving the architectural integrity of Central Campus and to seeing it developed into a property that will benefit our community in the future.