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Politicians, students and residents turned out by the dozens Thursday to watch the ceremonial turning of the dirt at Gaithersburg High School.

The Frederick Avenue campus will undergo a modernization over the next three years, leading to the demolition of the original 60-year-old building and the construction of a brand new, 429,619-square-foot school.

"It's taken too long, but sometimes it's worth waiting for," said Gaithersburg Mayor Sidney A. Katz, a 1968 graduate of the school.

Gaithersburg High School was founded in 1904 at the site of what is now Gaithersburg Elementary School. High school students were moved to the Frederick Avenue campus in 1951. The high school was originally built at 68,184 square feet and for 800 students. Seven additions from 1956 to 2005 added 255,292 square feet.

The piecemeal renovations increased capacity, but led to problems across campus, not the least of which is the "stairway to nowhere" in the school's E Hall, which connects only the top and bottom floors of the three-story building with no access to the second floor.

That shortcoming and others — heating issues, mold and narrow hallways — were highlighted in a video created by 2008 GHS senior Bobby Oler that was presented at a Montgomery County Board of Education meeting in May 2008.

At the groundbreaking Thursday, several speakers poked fun at the condition of the school — and commended the perseverance of parents and students who advocated for the modernization.

"They drug every politician through the building that they possibly could — and lost half of them along the way," said Superintendent of Schools Jerry D. Weast. "The first time I came to this building 12 years ago, I had to drop crumbs to find my way out."

The $107.5 million modernization project is funded in the school system's 2011-16 capital improvement program.

The first phase of the replacement, now under way, includes drilling geothermal wells under what will become a temporary parking lot. The new school will be built on the site of the existing parking lot. After construction, the old school will be torn down.

The new building will hold up to 2,294 students — about 300 more than now.

Two sections of the old school will remain: the auditorium, built in 1973, and the "J" wing, built in 2005. A third story will be added to the "J" wing.

The new building will be ready for use by August 2013. Work at the site will be finished by August 2014.

"I think the important thing to remember is what new schools mean to communities. This is going to be a center of wonderful activity," said school board President Christopher S. Barclay.

"What's going to be important here are ... the teaching and learning that goes on, and the sparks that will be lit in this wonderful building."

by the numbers

-60 — Age of Gaithersburg High School building

-800 — Students the 1951 building was intended to hold

-2,057 — GHS students in 2011

-68,184 — Square footage of Gaithersburg High School in 1951

-7 — Number of renovations done at the school from 1956 to 2005

-323,476 — Square footage of the school after renovations

-429,619 — Anticipated square footage of the new school

-$170.5 million — Anticipated cost to build school in 2011

-15 — Shovels used by dignitaries in the ceremonial turning of the soil to celebrate the new building project

dgaines@gazette.net