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Granger High School will start the 2013-14 school year with a new building. The school at 3690 S. 3600 West in West Valley City already has a new football stadium for the Lancers. Construction is about 20 percent complete.

The $68 million project replaces an aging 1950s building that did not meet building codes designed to withstand a major earthquake. The new school also will be updated with today's technology, including Internet access and overhead projectors in every classroom, noted Granite School District spokesman Ben Horsley.

Designed by Naylor Wentworth Lund Architects, the 440,000 square-foot building features natural light, an indoor pool and a 1,500-seat auditorium. The school also will have a black-box theater for smaller performances and a larger backstage area than the existing Granger High. The building has three hallways that could allow students to be grouped in so-called "small learning communities," attending classes with others in the same grade or interested in the same field, such as health and medicine.

The building will open with about 1,700 students but have space for 2,200 in anticipation of future growth, Horsley said. Community members have expressed an interest in moving ninth-graders into the high school and students who receive permits to go to other schools may want to come back to Granger, he said.

"We have seen an upswing in interest in coming back to Granger with a new facility," Horsley said. The old building holds 1,655 students and has 1,651 enrolled.

Rosemary Winters