Worthington board hears detailed construction update for Thomas, Kilbourne and new natatorium

The Worthington Board of Education on Sept. 9 received a progress update on construction at Thomas High School, Kilbourne High School and the district’s new natatorium, with architects and project managers describing phased completions, a flooring delay at Kilbourne and an anticipated natatorium opening in 2025.

Mike Dingledine, the construction presenter, said the projects must balance “personalizing student experience, achieving sustainability … improving site traffic and building life safety” and, crucially, “how we accommodate continuing operations in buildings, when there is construction going on around, our education process.”

Dingledine described the natatorium as “tucked in completely surrounded, controlled site,” with masonry nearly at bearing height and interior work underway. He said the facility will include 10 lanes and a range of pool depths for training, deep-water and warm-up, and that the project recovered from an early foundation delay caused by heavy rain. Board members asked about athlete access; the project team said pool systems may be brought online for athletic use before full site completion. The natatorium is expected to be “done in '25,” with the project team noting enclosure by April but full site finishes and some work occurring through the rest of the year; a later comment placed an athlete-usable date around December 2025.

At Thomas High School, the district has opened the new three‑story academic wing and athletic wing while using the east classroom wing as swing space. Dingledine showed interior photos and said teachers are moving into rooms and adapting spaces, with “lots of operable windows” and hallways that maintain a human scale. The team plans to tear down the remaining east wing (used temporarily for cafeteria and some classrooms) after the new cafeteria and administration wing are complete, and to restore the front lawn and trees after construction finishes.

Kilbourne’s renovation is a continuous, phased project inside an existing building. Dingledine said most mechanical, lighting and casework upgrades are installed, but a flooring shipment did not arrive on schedule. He said the flooring is expected by the end of the month and will be installed during a fall break window; meanwhile classrooms remain usable with new systems and furnishings but older floors. He described permitting work for an outdoor porch that required a separate Army Corps of Engineers permit; splitting permits allowed Kilbourne work to proceed on schedule while the stream‑disturbance permit (which could take months) was obtained.

Board members and administrators pressed for timelines; the project team provided a phased schedule showing core spaces (cafeteria, student commons and media center) turning over in late 2025, with arts/music/auditorium phases finishing in late 2026. Dingledine summarized risks as weather, global supply‑chain disruptions and requirements from authorities having jurisdiction, saying the risk profile falls as projects pass the first third of construction.

Board members praised district staff and contractors for enabling Thomas to open on the first day of school. Project staff described daily coordination with school principals and administrators to preserve safety and operations, including weekly principal meetings and daily communications for emergent issues.

Questions remaining from the board included exact auditorium capacities (Thomas’s new auditorium capacity was confirmed later in the meeting as 900 seats), the schedule for demolition of the old east wing at Thomas, the timing of flooring installation at Kilbourne, and athlete access timing for the natatorium. The district said it will provide a consolidated phased schedule to the board following the meeting.