Central High School - Blackhawk Yearbook (Davenport, IA)

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grand curtain and light board at $135,000; the chemistry lab was totally remodeled for $81,905; also, $8000 worth of carpeting was put in corner rooms to help deaden the street noises of Harrison and Main. The halls shone with newly painted lockers and walls, dramatizing the very best points about high ceilings, fine woods, and marble floors and columns. All of this was not without some has- sle. While the auditorium was finished with new chairs in time for the Vocal Music and Orchestra Concert on De- LONC-A WAITED AUDITORIUM SEATS final ly arrive. Photo by L. Kozich. THE FINAL PRODUCT after the auditorium seats were installed. Photo by L. Kozich. IN PREPARATION FOR THE NEW CHAIRS, a contractor works diligently on fixing the wall. Photo by M. Wince. cember 18th, the Variety Show may well be held at Garfield Elementary School in February as well as the Band concert in March and the Musical in April because the auditorium's new light board will take two months to in- stall once it gets started. Adding a real- istic note, John Bernatz stated, The auditorium will be a good facility, but the stage is still too small. Just before Christmas, faculty and students were confronted with the smell of gas fumes probably the result of some of the repairs to the chem lab pipes. The result was cold lunches be- fore vacation and new pipes to the kitchen since gas leaks were impossible to pinpoint. Fixing the piping cost over $8500. In spite of these minor problems, im- provements on the building moved forward. Said Principal Don Fisher, We want the finest facility developed that we can possibly provide for our stu- dents. Student life Rennovation 25

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AFTER ALL THE HEAVY WORK WAS DONE in the chemistry lab, this was the scene. Photo by S. Dex- ter. “THE TOILETS WILL BE in working order, but the partitions and paper will not be in for another week, stated principal Don Fisher on the first day of school. Photo by M. Wince. Facelift Is it worth it? Rennovating Central has proved to be a rewarding but frustrating project. At a cost of roughly a million as of Janu- ary 20th, a number of dramatic changes have beautified a faltering facility: land south of the building was purchased for an athletic for gym classes and band practices at a cost of $502,400; the bathrooms and drinking fountains were restored to 1981 standards of usability for $82,580; the North Annex was re- modeled for a cost of $5000; the audi- torium was repainted and supplied with beautiful plush chairs, carpeting, 24

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Open The Door To... Proposed expansion of campus For the past few dec- ades students at Central have come and gone see- ing the same old school, day after day. A group of concerned people set out to change that by expand- ing the campus and build- ing a swimming pool, ten- nis courts, and an athletic field. This group, known as C.D.C. (Campus Devel- opment Committee), met in the activities office to comsider these ideas. The student body was repre- sented by Tim Tutt, Dan Carlson, and Laura Steinke and the representatives of the faculty were Principal Don Fisher, Chuck Bar- rett, Barb Hess, and Larry Swanson. We want to keep the campus in one area, stat- ed Fisher. The land to be put to use is bounded by Eighth, Main, Twelfth, and Harrison streets. Of this area, all but two proper- ties have been purchased by the city. It's all a mat- ter of time before we se- cure this area, remarked Fisher. The pool acquisition was strongly backed by the boys' swimming coach, Larry Swanson. He pointed out the fact that central Davenport needs a new pool to make up for the loss of the LeClaire Natatorium. His plans were to teach youngsters how to swim in the old pool. Lifesaving could also be included in this pro- gram. The new facility would be used for gym classes and the schools with swim teams. Along with the pool proposition, the group discussed building tennis courts and an athletic field. Fisher noted the danger of crossing Harr- sion Street to arrive at Ripley Field, which has been used for tennis and softball physical ed. classes. Other projects under consideration by C.D.C. were the purchasing of areas north and west of Central to accomodate parking, and erecting a Fine Arts building under- neath the athletic field. This would allow the band and orchestra to practice without disturbing classes in the main building. Whether it be the badly needed swimming pool or the luxury of having a new Fine Arts building, the students at Central will welcome a change to the present day campus. -Dan Hauser Hopes of new centers turn to reality Davenport is making our city a better place to live. Plans for a Civic Cen- ter are already beginning to turn into a reality. A hotel-motel tax has been adopted and there are more projects in the works including a ground transportation center and complete remodeling of many public facilities. The new Civic Center is already past the early stages of planning as pre- liminary legal work and architectural designs have been completed. The project, as yet, is still in the paperwork stages. The center, to be situated be- tween the RKO Orpheum theater and the Black- hawk hotel, is to consist of remodeling of the RKO into a performing arts center and demolition of the building between the RKO and Blackhawk, with construction of new buildings that will hold a large convention center, along with conference rooms and shops. The es- timated cost is 3 to V 2 million dollars which is to come from the new Ho- tel-Motel tax as well as private sources. The esti- mated completion date is two and a half years. Another municipal gain was passed November 4, 1980, and went into effect on January 1, 1981. It is the new Hotel-Motel tax, which is going to net the city three to five hundred thousand dollars from nonresidents who stay in Davenport and use its fa- cilities. The tax is a per- cent of the room bill, starting at 3% in 1981, 4% in 1982, and leveling off 5% in 1983 and there- after. An addition to the downtown area which is further in the future is the Ground Transportation Center at a cost of forty- two and forty-three mil- lion dollars. The construc- tion is to begin in one to one and a half years with AN ARCHITECT'S SKETCH of the proposed Superblock to be built on Perry Street between the Blackhawk Hotel and RKO Orpheum theatre. Print courtesy of Q-C Times.