Photos of technology building construction on Rochester Street taken Dec.10, 2002 by James Young

Before North High School's trombones can lead the big parade or even rehearse for the next half-time show, they must navigate the obstacle course to and from the practice field.

From the second-floor band room, students travel through five sets of doors, 27 narrow stairs and a poorly lit, winding hallway while carrying tubas, bass drums and other instruments.

"We've got brand-new tubas this year, and there's no way to transport them without getting them dinged up," senior Ken Applegate said.

The really big instruments, such as the xylophone, ride a freight elevator.

All that will change by fall 2004 with the $19 million bond-issue renovations planned for the school at 13th Street and Rochester Avenue.

The band will have ground-level rehearsal space in a new classroom wing along the Little Arkansas River that will also include a dozen new science labs.

"I can't say enough how much better it's going to be," band director Steve Byers said.

The renovations will also bring a new technology building, new art space, a new cafeteria, a courtyard, natural light in the library and centrally located offices -- not to mention the ever-popular air conditioning.

Architect Kenton Cox said the project will also repair some of the disasters created by previous additions while maintaining and enhancing the historic building's appearance.

"I wanted to see if we could bring back some architectural beauty to the library and other features," said Cox, who graduated from North in 1960 after playing football and trumpet in the band.

The renovations at North and East high schools -- the city's oldest high schools -- are the two biggest projects in the district's $285 million bond issue.

And North's renovations are the most complex because of the relatively small 26-acre site and the fact that the building is on the local register of historic places. Ideally, high schools should have 60 to 70 acres, Cox said.

The site constraints mean that certain parts of the project must be completed before others can begin.

For example, the new technology building under construction on Rochester Avenue must be done first, so the welding and auto technology shops have a place to go. Then the current auto technology shop can be demolished for a courtyard and the welding rooms can be transformed into art classes.

And the city's Historic Preservation Board had to approve of the plans for North. Several changes were made from the original design to maintain the views of the distinctive tower at the school's southeast corner.

The school features murals with an American Indian and pioneer theme telling the history of the site.

North is built on the site of the first school established in 1869 in the Wichita Indian settlement, which is now the Riverside area.

The most prominent part of the construction will be the classroom wing along the riverbank. It will close off the open west end of the original U-shaped building to form a square complex with a middle courtyard.

When the library was built after a bond issue passed in 1974, it filled in North's original courtyard and blocked all the natural light that used to reach the heart of the school.

"We think that was a disaster," said Cox, whose architecture firm Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey is managing the current bond issue.

To fix that, Cox included the courtyard on the west side of the library and a "clear story" within the library. The center of the library's roof will be cut out and extended upward to allow light in through new windows.

For seniors such as Applegate and Jehramy Heckman, who both play tuba, the improvements can't come soon enough.

Upperclassmen like them will suffer through some of the construction headaches, but won't see most of the improvements.

The technology building's construction has already consumed some student parking.

"Now we just have parking torn up, and Rochester is tough to get down," Heckman said.

"They got the bond issue passed our freshman year, and they just now started construction," Applegate said.

So the band will have to continue its up-and-down routine for rehearsals and performances.

Thursday morning, sophomore Tyler Cowley made two trips up and down the freight elevator -- which loads and unloads inside another teacher's classroom -- with the xylophones, bells and large bass drums needed for the marching band.

Cowley has a shot at enjoying the new ground-floor band room in his senior year.

"That'd be easier," he said.

Until then, Cowley will keep driving his drums through that other class to use the freight elevator.

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