Meet the new YV-Tech

YAKIMA, Wash. -- The feel of the place is open, airy and industrial -- with exposed steel beams that still bear the handwritten markings of the workers who installed them.

Walls of glass offer views of the Valley's rolling hills and nearby fairgrounds, tempering the building's high-tech, edgy atmosphere.

And that's not all.

The centerpiece of the main entryway is a two-story, steel-and-concrete staircase, towering above a commons area that will feature a student-run restaurant bordering a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen.

The principal's pretty proud of it.

"We have the nicest kitchen in Eastern Washington, and I am not kidding," says Craig Dwight during a recent tour of the new school.

The first phase of construction of the new Yakima Valley Technical Skills Center, slated to open in mid-October, features nine contemporary classrooms and more space than the vocational school has ever had.

The modern brick-and-glass building on South 18th Street encompasses about 41,000 square feet -- and that's not even half of it. In January, school officials plan to seek additional funding from the state to complete a second phase of construction, adding another 59,000 square feet.

Workers last week were knocking down items on the 14-page punch list, readying the new building for occupancy. Construction of phase one has taken about a year to complete.

Instructors and other staff are slated to begin moving in a week or two with class offerings to begin shortly thereafter. And students are excited to begin classes in their new digs.

"I'm ready to go," says 17-year-old Mikayla Michel, a senior at West Valley High School who's in her second year of computer technology at YV-Tech. She hasn't been inside the new school yet, but she's driven by it.

"I think it looks really good," she says. "It looks big."

In her current classroom, "We're kind of crammed."

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About 840 students attend YV-Tech. That's one of, if not the, highest enrollment the school has ever had, Dwight said.

Started in 1976, YV-Tech is the second oldest of the state's 10 skills centers. Ten school districts came together to create the vocational school: East Valley, Highland, Naches Valley, Selah, Toppenish, Union Gap, Wapato, West Valley, Yakima and Zillah.

Union Gap, which doesn't have its own high school, is no longer involved. However, five more districts -- Granger, Grandview, Mt. Adams, Prosser and Sunnyside -- have signed on to the cooperative. The Yakima School acts as YV-Tech's host district, or fiscal agent.

YV-Tech's original building, the one that currently serves as its main campus on South 15th Avenue, was constructed during the 1977-78 academic year and encompasses approximately 26,000 square feet. YV-Tech has outgrown it.

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Today, Dwight says, there are nine satellite locations and 23 different classes, ranging from cosmetology and computers to firefighting and fashion marketing.

Students earn credits toward Career and Technical Education, or CTE, requirements. They can also take classes at YV-Tech as electives and earn college credit. There is no charge to the students for taking the classes.

Students must be juniors or seniors, or at least 16 years old. And they're enrolled on a first-come, first-served basis. Seniors are given priority if a class fills up, Dwight says.

The new school, situated on 91/2 acres, cost about $13.3 million. Almost all of the funding came from the state. Dwight plans to seek an additional $23 million in state funding to complete phase two. If YV-Tech doesn't get the money when Dwight goes to the Legislature in January, he says he'll try again in 2011.

The second part of the project includes an automotive complex, multimedia center and dental classroom, among others. By the completion of phase two, YV-Tech will encompass 100,000 square feet, serve about 1,200 students and put most of the school's programs on one site.

*******

Meantime, the first phase of the new school features polished concrete floors, lots of natural light, high ceilings, partially exposed electrical and ventilation systems, and -- says project engineer Zach Wasielewski of Garco Construction in Spokane -- exposed, "raw and real steel" beams.

"All of the marks the ironworkers put on are still on them," he says.

And they're going to be left like that, adding to the overall look of the place, which Wasielewski describes as "industrial-meets-high-tech, sophisticated 21st century."

Polished tree trunks serve as benches throughout the building, designed by KDF Architecture of Yakima.

There are five classrooms on the second floor, four on the first. All are set up to accommodate team-teaching and include ceiling-mounted projectors and SMART Boards.

The second-floor fashion marketing classroom, set up to resemble an actual clothing store, "is going to look like American Eagle," Dwight says.

*******

And on the first floor, culinary arts instructor Ned Walsh, owner of 901 Pasta in Yakima, can't wait to move in. He now teaches in what once served as the dorm kitchen at Yakima Valley Community College, which owns the building YV-Tech occupies on South 15th Avenue.

"I'm very excited," Walsh says. "The opportunities with the new kitchen are outstanding. We have a lot of space and the newest equipment."

He's hoping to open the teaching and learning café as soon as possible, serving lunch -- and maybe a late breakfast -- two or three days a week.

Southwest Rotary already has reservations for November, Dwight says, adding meals will be inexpensive and the décor will change.

"Some days it will be formal," he says. "Some days it will have cafeteria style."

Four classes will remain in the old building when YV-Tech moves into the new school. They'll stay on the old campus until phase two is complete, Dwight says.

If there's any money left over from phase one, he's hoping to add a $1 million conference room adjacent to the commons area next spring. If not, it'll have to wait until phase two.

That won't be the end of the project, though.

There's a phase three, too -- a $5 million branch campus in Sunnyside.

* Adriana Janovich can be reached at 509-577-7653 or ajanovich@yakimaherald.com.

YV-Tech at a Glance

* Students: About 840

* Started: 1976

* New Campus Cost: $13.36 million for phase one.

* Size: 41,000 square feet for phase one. (An additional 59,000 square feet is planned for phase two.)

* Phone: 509-573-5000.

* On the Web: www.yvtech.us.

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