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Benton High School
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ADDRESS:5655 South 4th Street , LOCATION: Benton High School is south of downtown Saint Joseph, about 11 minutes away via the 229, off the Southwest Parkway, which intersects with. S 4th St. , which is one way going south. The school is situated on a hill, which overlooks the street and ravine, AND boulevard system.
DESCRIPTION/HISTORY:This solidly built, grand-looking, 3 story brick building dates back to 1938, when construction began on a piece of land bought by the school district. After spending $400,000 dollar in this construction effort, the 3 story, 320 foot high school building opened on March 21, 1940, with 37 classrooms, an auditorium, a gym and cafeteria. In 1961, a new gym was built on the north side of the main building, with a 147 ft high non-pillared dome. It was named for an honored coach at Benton High, P.B. "Pop" Springer. Unfortunately, the dome wasn't constructed properly, and collapsed 10 years later, and was replaced with a conventional flat roof. A new athletic field was built between 1974-1977. It was named, "Jim Sparks Memorial Field" after a young man who died on the football field during a game. In 1969, a two story twelve room wing was added to the south end of the main building. A new art room was also built adjacent the Industrial Arts wing. In 1990, the high school got a face-lift and another 8,240 sq. feet addition in a two story building which houses classrooms, labs and office space.
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