Olathe Public Schools is beginning the construction process for a new esports arena within the upcoming Innovation Campus on Rogers Road.
The campus is expected to open slowly over the course of the school year, and part of the construction plan that was added later is the arena. Esports became an officially sanctioned KSHSAA activity in May — the decision to sanction the sport will increase competition opportunities and give more freedom to when and where teams can compete.
“In anticipation of KSHSAA approving eSports as part of their activities line up, discussions around how our district can support our students participating in eSports have been ongoing,” Becky Grubaugh, executive director of communications, said. “Olathe Public Schools is committed to providing opportunities for all students to pursue their interests and passions, and with the opening of the new Olathe Public Schools Innovation Campus, there was an opportunity to support our eSports participants through the creation of a dedicated space to showcase the skills of our students in eSports.”
The Innovation Campus as a whole will host programs traditionally a part of technical centers, including culinary programs, health and animal sciences, a mental health suite and the Access and Focus programs, which are used for special education of students ages 18 to 21. Classroom space would more than double for every program listed.
Olathe school board documents show the arena will be on the lower level of the new building, next to a conference center.
“This construction project will take one of our open suites in the facility and construct an eSports arena, two practice rooms, additional data room for technology and storage. This project will also include opening existing hard walls to install glass sliding storefronts into the pre-function space next to the conference center for additional guest viewing,” the document states.
Grubaugh explained the layout, which will have 20 total gaming stations — 10 in a warm up area and 10 in a main event area — is meant to be flexible for classes, district and state-level competitions and large presentations, like TED Talks.
The main event area will include a spot for spectators and a broadcast booth for students to stream competitions and commentate, online and in-house.
Initial construction expenditures totaling $807,891 were approved by the school board Thursday night, meaning work can begin right away on reworking some utilities to accommodate the plan. Programs moving into the Innovation Campus will be slowly phased in over the course of the upcoming school year — Grubaugh said she does not expect the arena will be open by the beginning of the school year.