Educational Service District 123 opening new building in Pasco

Educational Service District 123’s classroom for the future is nearly in the present.

The classroom, complete with projectors, a sound system and places to connect tablets or computers, is part of a roughly 12,000-square-foot expansion at the service district’s Pasco facility after about 10 months of construction.

District staff members are moving into the $3.6 million professional development center expansion in preparation for a grand opening ceremony at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 12. Following the ceremony, visitors can tour the 3924 W. Court Street building between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

ESD 123 provides services to 146 public and 22 private schools in seven counties in southeastern Washington. Along with serving school districts, it also provides meeting space for other organizations.

The classroom for the future is one of the building’s highlights. Along with having the technical capability to test new teaching methods, the district is offering the space for districts to bring students, said Superintendent Darcy Weisner.

The space also provides districts a place to test new technology before deciding to purchase the equipment.

The original building was dedicated in January 2005. The addition doubles the center’s capacity. The center had two classrooms, a smaller one capable of holding about 26 people and a larger one, which holds about 100 people.

The configuration limited what people could do with the space, because they would either have to fit everyone into a smaller room or use the larger room and have more space than needed.

A new conference room gives the district a space to hold 150 people. Dividers built into the walls allow the space to be split into three rooms. Each of the possible rooms has a screen and eight speakers set into the ceiling.

The room’s construction will allow attendees to see a screen or hear a person speaking from anywhere in the room.

The building will offer more opportunities to provide services, Weisner said. They will have space to hold about 300 people in the building and 30 in the old building.

This story was originally published December 30, 2016 at 7:19 PM with the headline "Educational Service District 123 opening new building in Pasco."