In 2017, Bowie began making changes to the campus with funding from the Austin Independent School District (AISD) Bond Program that has been giving money to the school to improve their infrastructure. These alterations include improvements to the fine arts building, the track, the roofing, and other areas around campus. 

Earlier this past year, the parking garage was completed with the funding from the AISD Bond. Additionally, the garage includes new tennis courts for the Bowie tennis team to practice on.  

“I think the parking garage will be most useful for students at Bowie,” sophomore Chazon Mingarine said. “Since I can drive now and I’ve seen how bad the traffic gets after school, the parking garage will help a lot  with [the control of traffic].”

Sophomore Nico Colegrove agrees with Mingarine in that the garage has many uses for students and staff, but he isn’t in agreement about the decrease in traffic that the garage will provide.

“The parking garage could cause more traffic, since previously there wasn’t many places to park close to school,” Colegrove said. “Earlier, students would park and walk to get to school, but now that there is more parking on campus, it will only make it worse leaving school.”

As summer approaches and with the recent project of the parking garage finished, the new athletic facility and the new theater have begun to be constructed. 

“We outgrew the original athletic building about a year after we moved in,” varsity football head Coach Jeff Ables said. “The building was too small for the number of participants in our athletic programs.”

Not only will the construction of the new fine arts auditorium create a new theater for the campus, but the existing fine arts auditorium is being renovated as well. 

“I think our old theater was good, but it had limited space,” junior Yuri Lee said. “I remember at dance showcases there were a lot of parents that had to stand because there weren’t enough seats for everyone.” 

Aside from the construction of new buildings, the academic building is currently getting new heating and air conditioning units installed. 

“I think improvements to the academic building are important because better air conditioning for the campus is a necessity for students,” Mingraine said.

According to the AISD website, these changes to the academic building are currently 95 percent complete and are expected to be finished before the start of next school year. 

“Especially in the Texas heat, air conditioning is essential so I’m really excited to come back to campus with these changes,” Lee said.

 With the school year ending, the construction on Bowie continues in the hopes of finishing the athletic facility by this summer and the new fine arts building by the Summer of 2022. 

“I’m most excited about the new theater because they’ll be more space for the dance classes to practice and more seats for visitors,” Lee said.