By definition, a multi-purpose room serves many functions—a lunchroom, an open space to host dances, and a meeting place for assemblies.

Yet, for those who attended El Capitan Elementary School’s ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday morning, it became clear that the site’s new multi-purpose room would above all serve as a source of pride for students, staff, and the community of Delhi.  

“This new building serves as a great source of pride, especially for students,” said Delhi Unified School District Superintendent Adolfo Melara. “The room fosters more opportunities for activities during the school day and after school.”

Melara’s remarks were echoed by site Principal Gena Buchanan, who noted that the school has long outgrown its old multi-purpose room.

“This was a need for quite some time,” said Buchanan. “The old room could only have three to four grade levels at one time, so the school could never be all together at one time.”

Although the limited size of the school’s old multi-purpose room served as the source for many organizational problems, the principal specifically recalled basketball games, wherein which the room got so overcrowded that spectators were often forced to sit on the stage.

“I feared that the comments they made as a result reflected badly not only on the school, but on the entire district,” said Buchanan.

Thanks to the passage of Measure E in 2012, the District was granted a bond totaled at $8 million to “modernize, construct, and renovate outdated classrooms, restrooms, and school facilities.”

According to Buchanan, each school site was required to report what they wanted the funds to go towards and for El Capitan, students and staff did not have to think twice about what aspect of their school needed an upgrade.

The building, which originally began construction in February of last year, now hosts a bigger stage and enhanced modern amenities, including a sound system.

“We also have a brand new, spacious kitchen with state-of-the-art equipment,” said maintenance director Mike Flowers. “The building is also energy-efficient.”

Above all, the new multi-purpose room solves the most prominent issue that plagued the old room —lack of space. According to Flowers, the new room can hold a maximum of 354 people, while the old facility was only capable of holding less than 200 people.

Although the price tag of the project has the potential to reach a maximum of $3.7 million dollars, the finalized amount has not yet been calculated due to the District’s current endeavor to explore ways to save money.

 “We are now excited to hold events and we look forward to years of memories that are going to be made in this beautiful building,” said Buchanan.