![An artist's rendering of the front view of the future culinary arts building. [Courtesy Owen Chang, CJUSD Facilities]](https://pepperbough.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/CA-BLDG-1.jpg)
Colton, CA—Colton High School’s most iconic upgrade in recent years has been the Rivera cafetorium. It seats everyone, feeds everyone, and most importantly it is brand new and makes the campus look great.
But the old cafeteria is still standing, as it has for decades. Colton High is converting it into a culinary arts building in order to create a more hands-on learning experience for our CHAMPS Pathway students.
CHAMPS is Colton High’s hospitality pathway, which focuses on educating students in the fields of culinary arts, business management, and the service industry.
Some of the major improvements will include renovating the kitchen to bring it up to service industry standards. This kitchen will serve as a demonstration kitchen for classroom learning.
New cooking equipment will be bought including new gas stoves with grills, deep fryers, a dishwasher and a walk-in freezer for better storage. The building will also include an outdoor barbecue area as well.
In order for that to happen, the entire kitchen will be demolished. Plans are to simply update the dining area, and to include an outdoor seating area too.
“Students will finally be able to learn from real life events and get experience with restaurant type duties that they can take out to the industry and help them get jobs during and after high school,” said Brandall Buckles, Hospitality Pathway Adviser at Colton High.
Despite the potentially amazing food that will be cooked by students given all these resources, it will still be a rule that students aren’t allowed to bring their food outside of the classroom.
While they’re eating their own food in the classroom, students will learn the proper techniques to work in a restaurant and carry those skills for far long after they graduate.
Construction has just started and it will sometimes be heard during school hours. Part of the staff parking lot has been fenced off since the new building is adjacent to it so work can be done.
The total cost for the project is estimated at 12 million dollars and will also receive an additional three million from matching state funds. This project has been in planning for the last two years.
Construction was scheduled to begin on Aug. 21. However, it appears that the recent storms may cause a slight setback. The estimated time for completion is 14 months.
