Martin City K8 celebrates new gymnasium and band room

By Brad Ziegler

Martin City K-8 School held a ribbon cutting and open house for their new gymnasium and band room on November 1 at the school.  The new space and renovations cost $4.7 million dollars and was part of a $45 million bond issue passed by Grandview School District voters in April 2021.  JE Dunn Construction was the contractor on the project, which broke ground in September 2022.

The new gym will be used primarily for physical education classes for the older students at the school, the school’s basketball teams and the volleyball teams.  The new gym will be able to hold all of the students in the school for all school assemblies, which had not been possible in the past, and will also provide a tornado shelter for the students. 

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The former gym, which had been shared by students of all grade levels, has been partially converted to a modernized and expanded band room and ensemble space for students, and the rest of the gym has been renovated for physical education classes for the younger students.  Grandview Superintendent Dr. Kenny Rodreguez helped celebrate the new facilities at the ribbon cutting and said that they will “provide the types of experiences that our students deserve.”  He also thanked all the people who came together over the last few years to make the project a success and said that “it truly does take a village to get something like this done.”

The new gym is the first new building to be constructed by the Grandview School District in 17 years and Leonard Jones, Grandview’s Mayor who spoke at the ribbon cutting, sees the project as “a new opportunity for the students, that will give them hope and a new beginning.”  Martin City K-8 student Asja Shoals, who also spoke at the ceremony, said that she was excited about the “beautiful new band room” and the space that it and the new gym will provide for concerts, pep rallies, assemblies, and games.

The gymnasium was the second project at the school to be funded by a bond issue, as a new, more secure entryway for the school opened in November 2021.