ASCENSION PARISH - The Ascension Parish School district has been busy with renovations across the district, and the new building for East Ascension High School is something officials have been waiting for since 2009.

The new East Ascension High School building has been in planning since 2009. However, after years of waiting the project broke ground last year. Now, the $6 million project is almost completed says Jeff Parent, the district's supervisor of construction planning and security. 

"We've spent a lot of time trying to get the architecture of the campus to talk the same language to each other," Parent said. "We started this process back in 2009, and we're here over a decade later finishing up. If you graduated prior to 2012 here at East Ascension, this campus is going to look totally different to you. You will not recognize it."

The principal, Lauren Avery says everyone, teachers and students alike, are excited. 

"Obviously it is a state-of-the-art facility," Avery said. "We're going to have a fantastic robotics lab. We have a beautiful area that students enter as soon as they get off of the buses into this phenomenal atrium. There are numerous chemistry labs. We could not be more excited about all of the things that are available coming up this school year with this new building."

It's more than 130,000 square feet of new construction and renovations, including a new 4-pipe HVAC system which is an upgrade from the old building's 2-pipe system.

"Fifty-three classrooms installed, science labs, robotics lab, fax labs, state-of-the-art technology. It's going to be a beautiful building where East Ascension students will have a great time," Parent said.