The largest public school construction project in Christian County’s history got a ceremonial kickoff Friday morning with speeches and a groundbreaking for a consolidated high school on a 87-acre campus at Fort Campbell Boulevard and Lovers Lane.
“What truly makes this a historic day for Christian County Public Schools is the fact that this community and this school board made a decision that’s best for kids,” Superintendent Chris Bentzel said.
“Sometimes difficult decisions get lost in adult values, blown aside by political winds or halted by financial restraints. Not this time,” he said. “This time we stood strong and held the line for our mission. We stood strong and stood firm by doing what is very best for kids. Today Christian County Public wins and puts students first.”
A few hundred people attended the ceremony, including Gov. Andy Beshear. The master of ceremonies was Amy Watson, a Hopkinsville resident and anchor for NewsChannel 5 in Hopkinsville. Her children graduated from local public schools.
Costing approximately $132 million, the school will combine Hopkinsville and Christian County high schools and Gateway Academy, which is a career and technical program. It will be called Christian County High School and have a capacity for 2,500 students. The school mascot will be the Tiger and the primary colors will be orange, blue and black. The name, mascot and color blend the identities of the two high schools.
Construction is expected to be completed in a little less than three years. If that schedule holds, the current freshman classes will be the first senior class.
The school will transform the “high school experience,” said Bentzel.
“We are constructing more than just a building,” he said. “We are developing the next generation of scholars, our community’s workforce and students who will be prepared for life after high school.”
The Christian County Board of Education approved constructions bids for the school in late August. A year earlier, it appeared the project might be out of reach when construction bids came in slightly higher than $200 million, which was more than the district could afford to finance.
After adjusting the building plans and switching from a general contractor to a construction manager, the district was able to cut expenses by roughly $70 million. Along the way, school officials and board members also faced opposition from community members who didn’t want to give up the two public high schools.
Several farmers who became supporters of Bentzel’s push for a consolidated high school were among those who attended the groundbreaking.
David Wimpy, a Pembroke area farmer who graduated from Hopkinsville High School in 1975, said the consolidated plan made sense to him because he believes too many students are graduating without the foundation they need to pursue jobs, higher education or the military.
“We’ve got so many kids who come out now who have no work ethic,” he said.
He believed combining college prep, trades and technical programs into one school where all students would have the same opportunities made sense — especially after he toured his old high school and saw the deteriorating condition of the building. In addition, he said, an influx of federal pandemic money made one high school feasible after voters defeated a nickel property tax earmarked to begin replacing the two high schools years apart.
“It’s been a no-brainer to me that this is what we need to pursue,” he said.
Beshear praised the community’s investment in education and said the school comes along “at the perfect time to help supercharge our economy.”
“You are going to point to this high school,” said Beshear, when a potential new company wants to know where it can find the workforce.
“This is going to be a major magnet for economic development and new job creation,” he said.
Beshear, a Democrat running against Republican Daniel Cameron in the November general election, spoke about several economic development achievements during his first term in office and reminded the audience that he’s proposing an 11% raise for all public school employees in the next budget. Cameron’s plan includes boosting the pay for first-time teachers to $41,500.
School board chairman Tom Bell said it took “resolve and determination” to create the consolidated high school.
“It has been a journey that has always been focused on student achievement,” said Bell. “Kids first. I am so excited for the students that will walk through the hallways of that school. It’s going to be new, it’s going to be safe, it’s going to be a state of the art school.”
A few dozen people took part in the actual groundbreaking — so many that they were divided into three groups. Each took a turn donning a white hardhat and pitching dirt from a shiny shovel.
Among the student representatives were two freshmen — Stephan Lovan of Christian County and Kaley Bangart of Hopkinsville. If construction goes according to the schedule and the school opens on time in the fall of 2026, Lovan and Bangart would be in the first senior class of the new Christian County High School.
The last time public high schools were consolidated in Christian County was in 1959, when the county school system combined Pembroke, Crofton, Sinking Fork, South Christian and Lacy schools.
This story was updated to correct the spelling of Kaley Bangart’s name in the first photo caption.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
