Southern Nevadans take their education so seriously that they're willing to move mountains to make it happen.

And that's what Target General, Inc. of Nevada had to do to build the new Jack and Terry Mannion Middle School in southeast Henderson. The Las Vegas-based contractor carved a chunk out of the Black Mountains to make room for the $21.4 million school.

The 148,000-sq.-ft. facility, on 27 acres near Greenway Road and Paradise Hills Drive, needed a level surface before construction could begin. Target hired Southern Nevada Paving Co. of Las Vegas to remove 80,000-cu. yds. from the hillside, using backhoe excavators.

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Next, the mountain was shored- up using 1.1 mi. of concrete block retaining walls, running up to 9- ft.- tall. As a result, the site rises 75 ft. from front to back.

"The cross slope of the site has definitely been the project's biggest challenge," said Gary Siroky, Target General's Nevada president. "But we ended up with a much larger school site as a result."

The added space, six acres worth, is put to good use. The new school consists of eight interconnected, single-level block buildings on a post-tensioned concrete slab.
The facility contains a 108-seat auditorium, 12,500-sq.-ft. kitchen/food service area, 65 classrooms and a 36-ft.-tall, 30,000-sq.-ft. gymnasium.

Outside are four basketball courts, four volleyball courts, four tennis courts, four softball fields and a soccer field.

The school is a named after Jack Mannion, a local high school basketball coach and civic leader, and his wife Terry, a longtime school administrator and activist.

Starting in fall 2004, the new middle school bearing their name will service 1,700 students in Henderson, which the U.S. Census Bureau listed as the nation's third-fastest-growing city from April 2000 to July 2002.

Construction of the new Jack and Terry Mannion Middle School is being funded through a $3.5 billion, 10-year bond program approved by Clark County voters in 1998. The bond monies come from a combination of property and hotel room taxes levied from county residents and visitors.

The 13-month project, scheduled to finish in July, will see 200 tradesmen, 45 subcontractors, and 150 suppliers during the height of construction activity.

The undertaking will require a total of 6,000-cu.-yds. of concrete to complete.

Designed by Welles Pugsley Architects LLP, of Las Vegas, the new school incorporates rugged, resilient materials as part of a safety-conscious campus.

"We used durable water-resistant colored masonry, both spilt-face and smooth," said Wade Simpson, partner-in-charge of education facilities at Welles Pugsley. "The split-face minimizes graffiti by creating an uneven palette to paint on. At the same time, it can be sandblasted - if painted - without affecting the building."

The school uses metal doors and solid glass block along the perimeter for security reasons, but has glazing and landscaping within the courtyard. Conceived as a street, the 25,000-sq.-ft. courtyard ties the buildings together. It also acts as a central design element that helps circulate students while creating a secured gathering area.

The courtyard's apron has decorative bands of colored concrete with exposed aggregate, plus raised planters and two metal shelters. The planters provide a ledge for sitting and protect the trees and shrubs from being trampled, while the canopies offer all-weather protection from the rain and sun.

"The courtyard is a big street, where the classrooms have pods, the gym has it's own neighborhood and the commons/cafeteria area is wider to allow students to congregate there easily," Simpson said. "The idea is to build something durable that had been tried and tested over time."