For 44 years, she has held students, faculty and custodians between her walls. Parents, uncles, siblings and friends have shared some of their most memorable years in her hallways and have witnessed several senior pranks where she has been the prime target. She is the "Old '63 Building" of Arvada West High School. Arvada West High School has expanded and renovated beyond the capacity for this structure, and will move into a new wing with state-of-the-art facilities beginning April 2.

Access will be limited after spring break, which runs from March 21 through April 2. However, the building will not be completely cut off from the community. Arvada West alumni and parents are planning a "Farewell to Old '63 Building" Barbecue on April 12 in order to raise money for upgrading facilities that were not included in the current renovation project. There will be a barbecue and open house where members of the community can look at the old building, learn a bit of its history and tour the new building where people may observe the difference in structural design.

After the "Farewell to Old '63 Building" event, the building will be shut down. The Arvada Police Department will use the facility for training programs in early April. In June, construction crews will begin to tear the building down. By mid-July, the building will be completely gone, with the exception of the "Galleria," which currently houses administrative offices and English classes. The Galleria section of Arvada West will be retained for other Jeffco Public Schools purposes.

Even though the building itself will be gone, it will still be in the memories of those who have seen and been a part of it. The first class to ever graduate from the old building was the class of '64. Opened in the fall of '63, this building has contained many theatrical and sporting events. Other events that have occurred within this building have been senior pranks, such as pranks those involving sealing doors, letting crickets loose in the building or even the crazy prank of putting a Volkswagen Beetle in to the Senior Court, a part of the building which used to be between B-hall and the main office. Even though the old building has been added onto, taken down and redone, Jeffco administrators were still able to assess that the building was out of date. Principal Rob Bishop states, "Many of the systems that are important to the infrastructure are outdated or have been retrofitted to just pass codes and regulations."