Demolition at Jordan High School makes way for $97.5M gym, aquatic facilities
While the new gym and pool are slated to open in 2027, the school’s new stadium is set to come online in August ahead of the 2025-26 academic year.
The Jordan High School gym is being demolished to clear the way for new sports facilities, which are set to open ahead of the 2027 school year, according to district officials.
The $97.5 million project includes a new gymnasium, an aquatic center with outdoor pool and a “modern” locker room. Construction began in October and the project is slated to be completed in August 2027, according to Long Beach Unified School District spokesperson Shantel Brodhead.
The gender-neutral locker room will serve “students of all gender identities, expressions and students with disabilities,” according to a district website.
Such locker rooms previously received pushback from anti-trans activists, which was fueled by an article by far-right outlet Breitbart titled “Parents Alarmed as California High School Unveils ‘All Gender’ Locker Room.” In the article, the author accused LBUSD of having a “long history of pushing the gay agenda,” and alleged that all students, regardless of gender, would “shower and dress together.”
In 2022, the district even paused a project at Wilson High School due to the backlash brought on by the article.
The LBUSD website, however, makes it clear that no students shower or dress in front of each other in modern locker rooms, which feature “individual changing stalls and individual showers with a storage area and sufficient space for a student to shower and change in a single stall.”
The school’s new stadium, meanwhile, is set to come online in August ahead of the 2025-26 academic year, according to the district.
The nearly $5 million project includes the replacement of bleachers and the construction of a 400-meter synthetic running track and all-weather sports field, along with associated structures and equipment. Construction on the project began in May 2024.
The two projects are part of more than $373 million of updates on the campus that have taken place over more than a decade, according to Brodhead. Renovations at Jordan began in 2014, funded almost entirely by Measure K, a bond measure approved by 71% of Long Beach voters in 2008. Other funding includes $11 million from the state and $2.5 million from developer fees. Less than $200,000 has been used from the city’s general fund, according to the district.
Other projects at the North Long Beach campus, which first opened in 1934, include temporary classrooms, six new buildings, paving repairs, furniture replacement, safety and security upgrades, a phone system upgrade and campuswide wifi.
“At this time, I can confirm that there are additional phases planned for the Jordan project beyond the gymnasium,” Brodhead said, “but the specific schedule and scope of work are not publicly available yet.”
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