Issaquah High School students are one step closer to moving into a new school building.

At the Jan. 7 City of Issaquah Development Commission meeting, the group voted unanimously to recommend City Council approve the school district’s master site plan and development permits for the project.

At 285,000 square feet, the new school will be significantly larger than the 186,000 square foot building currently used.

It will accommodate about 1,850 students in 85 different classrooms.

The construction project, which will be completed in a number of phases, is scheduled to break ground in March.

It will include building three three-story classroom wings on the west side of the site.

A performing arts center with a 600 seat stage and 100 seat blackbox theater, and a new gymnasium, will be built on the east side.

Currently, the cafeteria doubles as performing arts space.

The tennis courts will be moved north, near the softball field, and the old site will become parking.

The other sports fields will remain in their current space.

Mitchell Kent of Mahlum Architects said he and his team worked closely with the school district to shape a vision of what the school would look like in the end.

“(The district) really helped us focus on what this whole project is about,” he said. “It’s about a lot of things that relate to community, and a lot of things that are important to the community as a whole. It really became the guideline for how we created our architecture.”

The school will be split in half during the construction process, to ensure students and staff can remain on campus.

A divider wall has been built along the main corridor to act as a noise and safety barrier while the south side of campus is demolished.

Once demolition is complete, the school will “flip” and students and staff will move to the south side while construction moves to the north.

A variety of parking areas, and designated parent drop-off and bus areas is intended to ease traffic through the parking lot.

Improved pedestrian paths will provide students with a route to the building without cutting through parking lots or in front of cars.

Kent said the new building will be much more energy-efficient than the existing one.

A variety of green building techniques will be employed, such as recyclable material, rain gardens and porous pavement in the courtyard.

The Building Department and Public Works Departments are currently reviewing construction permits for the project.

District officials said they will open the project for public bid to seek a general contractor by the end of the month.