Recessed balconies, folding bleachers, separate spectator entrances, folding doors, excellent locker and equipment facilities — all are provided in the school’s fine gymnasium. At the far end of the library-study are conference rooms, a work room, and stack room. the start of the project expired, the first shovelful of dirt was turned and construction began in earnest. Foresighted contractors stockpiled needed materials at the site so that work stoppages due to material shortages were not encountered on the job. Work progressed rapidly and the building was expected completed ahead of schedule. A study of Ben Lomond’s floor plans reveals a total of 44 classrooms, 29 of them constructed with a specific function in mind. In addition to the classrooms, the plant contains numerous, dispersed rest rooms, storage rooms, gymnasium, audi- torium, and cafeteria. At the juncture of the two right-angle wings of the long, low structure is the administration area. The main entrance is here, opening into a corridor flanked by bookstore and reception desk. Assistant principals’ offices, joined by a connecting door are placed to the right of the main entrance; boys’ and girls’ counselors’ rooms are directly across the hall. Beyond the reception desk, the supervising principal’s office opens into a large reception room. This room is big enough to house PTA study groups, small community gatherings, and to serve between ers’ lounge. meetings as a teach- Wide corridors separate this administration area from the auditorium, cafeteria, and vocal and instrumental music rooms. This enables administration to preserve 34 quiet and dignity, yet gives it easy and immediate access to student traffic coming from either wing of the academic area. Auditorium and music rooms are built with acoustic controls according to the pectliar needs of each. Auditorium walls are in curved sections for maximum sound reflectivity. Ceilings and walls have acoustic tile surfaces. The stage is equipped with an asbestos curtain and a built-in sprinkler system for fire protection. Lifts move the backdrops for storage in the fly loft. Dressing rooms across the hall from one stage door double as student offices and hobby rooms. The stage is wired so that broadcasts over the building intercommunications system may originate here. Built-in loud-speakers are located high on the walls on either side of the stage. The seating capacity of the auditorium is 1000 persons. A balcony to be added later will seat an additional 500 people. Stairs leading to the balcony are in. Space here will be used for storage until the balcony is completed. A scenery building room opens off the right-hand stage door. This in turn is connected with art rooms so that scenery may be designed and built by students and put into place with a minimum of moving and breakage. The speech department is properly and conveniently located near the auditorium, but has its own small stage and make-up or practice rooms. A glance at the floor plans of the east end of the east wing shows that boy interests are concentrated here. Automotive shop, woodworking department, ROTC drill rooms, and well-lighted roof storage units which can be used for special interest group work such as jewelry making, are located here. Doors at the end of the east wing open directly onto traffic ways and are large enough to permit the entrance of trucks. Other exits and entrances in this area permit students to use this part of the building without adding to student traffic through other corridors. The automotive shop compares favorably with any modern garage. It is equipped with hydraulic lift, washroom, floor trench, = and plenty of individual lockers where dents may keep coveralls and person tools. s : The woodworking area has special projne ect rooms lining one wall. Windows smal the instructor’s office open into these permit student rooms while glassed fronts On the instructor to see what is gomgclasslarge the in while classes are held ee oversized classrooms throughout the building, folding doors have pa “ oaal troduced. This permits the de ane large area into two classrooms " sa size. In line with multiple use ° class all keeps feature principle, this floor areas in maximum availability. SCHOOL BOARD JOUR NAL for JULY, 1954 The windows to the right of the entrance are those of the administrative unit; to the left, the academic wing. In building Ben Lomond, the planners departed from the popular idea of putting Op rooms in a separate building, away from the main plant. They did this deliberately, hoping to encourage more girl Students to take part in woodwork, jewelry Making, mechanical drawing. Rest rooms for both boys and girls have been placed at this end of the building, and provision as been made for the display of girls’ andiwork as well as for that of the boys. Adjoining the shop area are general sciSCHOOL BOARD JOURNAL for JULY, 1954 ence rooms, chemistry and physics laboratories, and home-economics rooms. Placed compactly on both sides of the corridor here, they reduce expense in plumbing yet make gas, compressed air, water, and power available in each. To distribute these facilities, underfloor ducts are used. Home-economics rooms have been placed in this wing, completely away from the cafeteria region. The foods programs in these two departments are entirely separate and personnel is not interchanged. The home-economics rooms include a home living room, dinette, students’ and instructors’ storage rooms large enough to accommodate student uniforms. There is an ample kitchen laboratory, with classroom attached. Part of the detailed planning in this area calls for the use of varied materials so students may compare them. One wall is lined with all steel cabinets, another with all wood cabinets. Gas and electricity are both available, and both type ranges have been installed. Use of various tile and 35