Cross Keys High School is slated to be remodeled, an update that should last for the next 40 or 50 years, according to one DeKalb County School District official.
The project will be paid for by Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (E-SPLOST), approved by DeKalb County voters.
Cross Keys sits on a 26-acre lot off North Druid Hills Road in Brookhaven. It currently houses more than 1,200 students, who will remain on the campus while the building is under renovation. The project is anticipated to be finished in three to four years.
Erick Hofstetter, DCSD chief operating officer, said the school will be brought up to code with a 140,000-square-foot addition, including a new performing arts center, and a 125,000-square-foot modernization program by the Georgia Department of Education. Hofstetter said it was one of the first projects he heard about when joining DCSD 15 months ago.
“Only schools more than 40 years old are eligible, so that’ll just tell you how old the school is. Many of the buildings are going back to the 1950s,” Hofstetter said. “It’s tradition rich but future focused.”
Changes to Cross Keys include a new bus loop, student drop-off area, additional parking, security, pedestrian paths, and a front door entrance. The track and field area will also be resurfaced.
Cross Keys is the only high school in DeKalb that does not have a performing arts center or auditorium. The addition calls for interior courtyards off of the new performing arts center, complete with amenities for putting on theatrical events and concerts.
Evergreen Construction will work with an arborist and the city of Brookhaven to remove only necessary trees and replant trees when it’s time.
“We ask in advance for your patience … We know it’s a little bit of an inconvenience, but when we look towards the future, it is going to be a beautiful place. We look forward to all the children and folks enjoying it,” Hofstetter added.
DCSD announced this year a $200 million project to build a middle and high school on one campus in Doraville to relieve crowding at Cross Keys.