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• The
Building
• Nickname
• School Songs
• Activities
• Enrollment
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The
Building
Since 1915,
Antioch Community High School has been located at 1133 Main Street in Antioch.
Although the original structure is no longer standing, its classrooms were used
to educate students for 82 years.
 1915
Within
weeks of being elected by the voters, the newly-created District 117 Board
of Education met to begin planning the school’s construction. A site
was selected, and $18,000 in bonds were sold on September 4 to finance the
building’s construction. It was dedicated on March 24, 1916, and members
of the class of 1916 began attending classes there for the last few months
of their senior year. High school classes had previously been held at Antioch
Grade School. |
 1927
Voters
approved $65,000 to build an addition to the high school in February 1926.
The two-and-a-half-story wing opened in 1927 and extended the north end
of the building to provide many new classrooms for the 184 students enrolled
at that time. |
 1953
It took another 27 years, but rising enrollment again
created the need to expand the school. Dedicated in March 1953, the addition
extended the school building further north and provided additional classroom
and office space, as well as a new gymnasium (now the south gym). An existing
gymnasium was also converted into an auditorium (which is still in use)
that could hold the entire student body of 382 students. |
 1962
Less than 10 years later enrollment had more than doubled,
and another addition was built, this one west of the original structures,
which were then no longer visible from Main Street. Numerous classrooms,
science labs, a library, and cafeteria were all part of the project to serve
the 858 students enrolled. Dedication ceremonies were held November 18,
1962. |
 1972
Another decade passed, and a new north wing added 24
classrooms, driver education and fine arts facilities, a resource center,
north gymnasium, locker facilities, and the commons area. Enrollment had
risen to 1,377. These improvements carried the school through the next 26
years, although steady enrollment increases in the 1990’s necessitated
moving the district offices to downtown Antioch and using two portable classrooms. |
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 1998
With enrollment at 1,801 students and headed higher,
it was time to expand one more time. For the first time, however, parts
of the existing building were demolished. The 1915 and 1927 structures
were razed in July 1998 to make room for future music facilities and additional
parking.
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 Construction
began that same summer on two additions: a north wing extension with art,
science, and applied technology areas; and an administrative office and
media center complex. The second of the two resulted in a dramatic change
to the school’s main entrance, with its two-story foyer and heavy use
of glass and concrete. After the wings opened in 1999, additional projects
continued through 2002 with expansion and remodeling of the 1953 auditorium
and girls’ locker room and creation of new music facilities. In 2004
additional remodeling included reconfiguring the east parking lot and entrance
and the construction of an auxiliary gym. Enrollment topped 2,200 students
before the district opened a second high school in August 2004. |
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A
Brief History of 
