WAIMEA — Parker School broke ground last Thursday on a new 21,000-square-foot multiuse facility that will be known as The SMART Center.
The $16 million capital improvement project on the school’s 20-acre Waimea campus is the largest in its 47-year history and will include a 10,800-square-foot gym with locker rooms and athletic personnel offices, a 3,600-square-foot technology center, a 1,600-square-foot dance studio, a 1,200-square-foot fitness center, a commercial kitchen and multiple outdoor learning spaces.
“The SMART Center will provide a gathering place spacious enough for our entire 330 kindergarten through grade 12 students for graduations, May Day celebrations, pep rallies, sporting events, robotics competitions, and summer programs,” David Kirk, Parker School board president, said in a press release.
The SMART Center name is an acronym for the programs supported by the facility — sports, mathematics, arts, recreation and technology — and also acknowledges Richard Smart, sixth-generation descendant of Parker Ranch who, through his generosity and vision, ensured Parker School would endure.
Last week’s groundbreaking represents the cap of a multiyear fundraising effort, interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges, to meet the demands of current and future students, according to the press release.
“This milestone is the result of hundreds of people within and outside of Parker School, who believe in the power of education to change lives and who want to impact the children of Hawaii Island,” Stephen Dunn, Parker’s head of school, said in the release.