Eric Brady | The Roanoke Times

The $28 million renovation project of Northside High School in Roanoke County was unveiled Thursday night during an open house.

Eric Brady | The Roanoke Times

Tom Murphy (left), a 1964 graduate of Northside High School, talks with former principals Donna Henderson and Juel Turner on Thursday.

There was a time when Northside High School students crowded in cramped and sweaty hallways, struggling to make it to class on time. Then, the 1,000 students at the Roanoke County school had to spend a year going to class in a small city of trailers parked outside as the building went through a renovation.

Now, Northside students have Roanoke County's newest school building after a $28 million remodeling project that was officially unveiled Thursday.

"It's a lot cooler now. I feel more clean," said Abe Beucus, a sophomore, sitting in the school's spacious new lobby. Two stories above him was a high arch that led through the lobby to the new library and a small courtyard. The evening's fading light poured in.

Mountains were visible, glowing to the south, and from outside came the sharp sound of metal bats from the baseball and softball fields.

"It's absolutely wonderful," said Donna Henderson, who spent 34 years at the school as a guidance counselor, teacher, assistant principal and principal before retiring in 1995. "I did not come at all during the [construction] process. I just wanted to be surprised, and it's gorgeous."

The refurbished school opened to students in the fall, but they had to share the building with workers who were putting on the finishing touches.

"A week before school started I was a little scared," confessed Superintendent Lorraine Lange. "If you could have seen the expression of the students when they walked in and saw the cafeteria, the oohs and aahs."

The project was not without its difficulties. At first, it was budgeted at $20 million and was supposed to be finished by last year. But school board members decided to add features to the renovation after hearing from parents and teachers during community meetings, driving up the price and extending the job.

Then, in July 2007, the price shot up another $4 million because of the rising cost of building materials fueled by demand in China and India. Finally, that September, a construction worker discovered asbestos in the building, which required an extensive cleanup.

"I know the custodial staff at the school never thought this project was going to end," said school board member Jerry Canada, who thanked school employees for putting up with the construction.

"We had to go through dust and mud," recalled Hunter Hambrick, a 2008 graduate who spent his senior year in the trailers.

Those earlier hardships were a distant memory Thursday, as administrators and school board members praised and thanked dozens of people for making the project possible. Several singled out the project's superintendent for Martin Bros. Contractors, a man in a Harley-Davidson shirt that everybody called Cracker. (Real name: Arnel Jenkins, although he doesn't mind the nickname. "I've had it ever since I was 5 years old.")

The renovation added 18,500 square feet to the school, including new classrooms, science labs, offices, conference rooms, a library, a courtyard and other features. The floors, ceiling, roof, electrical and plumbing systems are also new. The cafeteria, auditorium, gym and weight rooms have been remodeled.

One of the project's most notable features is the geothermal heating and cooling system, the first in the county school system, which relies on the Earth's heat and cuts down on power bills. Workers drilled 154 holes between the high school and neighboring Northside Middle School. Water pipes went into each 400-foot hole to capture the energy.

"You can't just take an old building and make it look new without making a mess, and a mess we had," said Canada.

On Thursday, that was difficult to imagine.