Phil Castle, The Business Times

A celebration featuring a marching band, cheerleaders, an assortment of speakers and a bright orange ribbon cut in two marked the opening of the new Grand Junction High School and what officials at the event hailed as the collaboration that made possible it’s construction.

“This new school is a testament to collaboration,” said Brian Hill, superintendent of Mesa County School District 51.

The thee-story, 250,000-square-foot, school was completed on time and under the $145 million budget for the project, Hill said.

The new high school houses instructional programs for arts and humanities; business and entrepreneurship; engineering, technology and natural resources; and health sciences and human services. The school also includes a 1,500-seat performing arts center.

Moreover, the high school is one of the most energy efficient in the country, Hill said.

More than a building, though, Hill said the building constitutes an investment in public education.

Voters approved a 2021 ballot measure allowing the school district to increase its debt $115 million to finance construction of the school. The project also was funded by $10 million from the Building Excellent Schools Today state grant program, Hill said.

Andrea Haitz, president of the Mesa County School Ditrict 51 Board of Education, said she was grateful for those who campaigned for passage of the bond measure and the voters who approved it. “Thank you all so much.”

Robert Bray, chief executive officer of Bray & Co. Real Estate based in Grand Junction and one of four generations of his family to attend Grand Junction High School,  said the design and construction of the new school reflects its purpose. “It’s all about the students.”

Dermot Lynch — president of the senior class at Grand Junction High School, the first class that will graduate from the new school — said students will continue a tradition of pride at the school.