LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The 3rd floor is now open. After being condemned and boarded up for 40 years, students will return to the third floor of the Academy at Shawnee. 

What You Need To Know

  • Academy at Shawnee is reopening its once abandoned 3rd floor

  • $42 million in renovations to 3rd floor, library, pool, auditorium, more

  • Shawnee school's 3rd floor has been boarded up for 40 years

  • Work continues on the auditorium and school entrance

 

“There used to be a door and it used to be locked so we really couldn’t ever detect what was up here," junior Neveah Thornton told Spectrum News 1.

Thornton is still getting used to her school having a third floor. “I really think they did a good job on our flooring, the painting because there was a lot of graffiti on the wall," Thornton explains.

The building, formerly Shawnee Middle, then High School and now Academy at Shawnee is impressive in size but for 40 years the entire 3rd floor has been off limits. Enrollment declined significantly during the late 1970s and in the early 1980s. Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) leaders at the time decided to cut their losses and board up the 3rd floor.

“We’ve come a mighty long way but we are here. This renovation opens the door for more facility and educational success," Jefferson County board chair Diane Porter said.

A two-year, $42 million renovation project brought the 3rd floor back and then some. The school's library has been relocated and renovated, the entire pool has been refurbished and can be used again, the auditorium is undergoing much needed repairs, the roof has been rehabbed and so too the lobby and school entrance.

“And I hope we do get to bring in more students for the simple fact our sports, we need more students for that," Thornton added.

Luke Lush is a senior at Shawnee. His grandparents attended the school in the 1960s when the 3rd floor was open and well maintained.

“We were looking for the stairway to go upstairs and then we found out we were upstairs and we were like wow, this is amazing," Lush told reporters. “It’s really nice, new paint, new bathroom. The floors are the same. I really like that because it shows a part of our history, the nice wooden floors.”

Work on the auditorium and school entrance is ongoing and expected to continue into the fall semester but it doesn't take away from the fact the Shawnee building is whole again.

“One of my counselors said Shawnee is kind of like a hidden gem, in a sense, and I think that is true because on the outside the school is old, and there is nothing wrong about that, it shows a lot of history but in the inside we have these great new classrooms, a great environment, great teachers, great students," Lush said.

Related Stories