BEND, OR -- Work began at Bend High School on the first phase of a four-year construction project.

School officials, students, contractors and architects kicked off demolition with a golden sledgehammer ceremony.

Bennett Sapin with BBT Architects says students will have to navigate around construction when they return this fall, “The contractor has been working really hard to get a clear way, finding pathways between the existing building and the new construction. It will just take a little bit of navigating to get through. It's all going to be pretty well marked off, but it is going to be kind of a maze of new construction and existing. But it will all be open and operational.”

Sapin tells KBND News the first of three phases will last through 2026, “Initially, there's a lot of the utility connections that have to be reconnected to keep the existing building running. And at that point, we're going to start construction on phase one, which is the classroom wing and also the new admin area and commons.”

Incoming Student Body President Taj Erickson is excited for the big upgrades. “All of these classrooms moving around, shuffling around but I think it's going to be really cool seeing how our students handle it, how our culture handles it …A fun time for us.” Erickson says navigating a construction zone in the fall is better than the current facility, “Everyone's ready for this little facelift that our school definitely needed. Like leaking ceilings, flaking paint, it was much needed. I think students are going to be super excited, especially all those like incoming freshmen now that are going to be able to see like this project like throughout the entire journey and see the finished product. It’s going to be really cool.”

It is the largest single project of Bend-La Pine Schools’ $250-million bond passed in 2022.