J.C. Bermudez Doral Senior High School held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, October 15, 2026, to mark the completion of a sweeping General Obligation Bond renovation and expansion project that officials say was built to help students succeed both in the classroom and on the field. The project brought a new three-story academic and student activities building, a 2,000-seat gymnasium, and an array of specialized classrooms to the Doral campus.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools described the event as a ribbon-cutting ceremony commemorating the completion of a major General Obligation Bond renovation and expansion project at the school, according to news.dadeschools.net. The district's advisory listed the project's cost at $36.2 million, a figure that matches reporting from WSVN 7News, which put the expansion's price tag at $36 million. Earlier district records, however, had estimated the project would cost $35.7 million, and a separate official project record had valued it at $29.8 million; the figures reflect different project stages, including architectural design, construction contract awards, and total final outlays.
District representatives, School Board members, Principal Edward R. Smith, school staff, teachers and students were listed among the expected participants for the ribbon-cutting, per the same district advisory. WSVN reported that officials gathered in Doral to celebrate the completion of the multimillion-dollar expansion, framing it as part of a broader push to give students enhancements aimed at academic and athletic success.
What the New Building Brings to Campus
At the heart of the project is a new, three-story building spanning 85,000 square feet that adds 617 new student stations to the campus, the district's groundbreaking announcement said. That same announcement detailed a 2,000-seat capacity gymnasium, a Little Theater/Black Box Theater, a gymnastics dance studio and a multipurpose room as part of the new construction.
The expansion also includes four vocational and business technology labs, 12 general classrooms and four science classrooms, according to the district's groundbreaking release. Existing Building 2 on campus was slated for its own upgrades, including kitchen improvements, a covered dining area, a weight room and renovations to the wrestling room, along with new covered walkways connecting the campus.
Construction contractor Pirtle Construction Company, which was awarded the build contract, separately described the work as a new 85,000-square-foot addition featuring classrooms and a state-of-the-art gymnasium. Pirtle Construction also noted that additional parking and new covered walkways were designed to improve accessibility and circulation across the campus.
A Project Years in the Making
The expansion's roots trace back to a voter-approved $1.2 billion General Obligation Bond passed in 2012, which funded the project along with other district-wide school improvements, according to American School & University. That trade publication reported that construction on the final phase was expected to wrap up in June 2026, though an earlier district announcement had projected a September 2025 completion date — another discrepancy that appeared in the project's public record over time.
Schools Superintendent Jose L. Dotres, Chief Facilities and Design Construction Officer Raul F. Perez, School Board member Danny Espino, Principal Smith, school staff and students had gathered for the project's earlier groundbreaking, the district's announcement said. NBC 6 South Florida covered that groundbreaking for the project's final phase, describing it at the time as valued at more than $30 million. An earlier district project description had also cited a smaller, 69,000-square-foot building before later records cited the 85,000-square-foot figure that ultimately described the completed structure.
With the ribbon now cut, the new wing joins the rest of the Doral campus as part of the district's long-running effort to modernize schools funded through the 2012 bond measure. The project stands as one of the more extensive campus overhauls to emerge from that bond cycle, adding new academic space alongside athletic and arts facilities meant to serve J.C. Bermudez Doral Senior High students for years to come.
