Cape High cafeteria off limits as needed renovation continues
Cape Coral High School students are spending the final weeks of school eating lunch under the “big tent” as the school’s cafeteria is being renovated throughout the summer to accommodate more students.
Renovations on the school’s antiquated cafeteria began Thursday and will continue through the summer, explained administrator Tommy Bowen. The cafeteria will open for students two weeks prior to the beginning of the 2009-10 school year.
Cape High’s current cafeteria has been in use since the school first opened 30 years ago.
“It’s the original cafeteria from 1979,” said Bowen.
It will be broken down and expanded to seat more students, he said, and it will be modernized to resemble the courtyard style found at Ida S. Baker High and Island Coast High.
Both schools were opened in the last five years.
Bowen explained that Cape High’s cafeteria had undergone a minor addition that enclosed an outside portion of the grounds into the eatery, yet overall there has not been a major construction project like the current one.
The school also has a contingency plan to deal with harsh weather.
“We have a plan in place for inclement weather. Hopefully we won’t get those early morning rains,” he said.
If rain or harsh weather disrupts dining, then the lunch room will be relocated to the gymnasium and physical education classes will be held someplace else in the school.
So far there have been no official complaints from students regarding the outside facilities.
The renovation was approved last year by the Lee County School Board for $10 million, along with targeted projects at Mariner High School.