HARRISONBURG, Va. (ROCKTOWN NOW) – The finished version of Harrisonburg’s brand-new second high school was unveiled last week, which was better news to some in the community than others.

Contractors completed work on the $112 million Rocktown High School earlier this year.

Dr. Michael Richards, Superintendent of Harrisonburg City Public Schools, said on Early Mornings Thursday that plenty of folks suggested simply adding on to Harrisonburg High School to save taxpayer dollars.

He said that was a good idea – in theory.

“When you look at it closely with the engineers, they say the plumbing can’t handle more students. Right now we have trouble with that,” Richards said. “We have trouble with all sorts of core features of the building, but it can’t handle that.”

According to Richards, all of that continued maintenance at HHS necessitated a new school building.

“And so what are you doing if you really do build on? You’re building another school,” Richards said. “Because you have to build all new plumbing, bathrooms, cafeterias…because the current cafeteria can’t handle that many people.”

He added that although the school may look extravagant, the open-floor design eliminated unnecessary building materials – saving money in the process.

To hear the full interview with Richards and Harrisonburg City School Board member Tom Domonoske, check out this episode of Early Mornings.