BHHS Grand Lawn Returns After Decade of Campus Renewal

The historic Grand Lawn at Beverly Hills High School is expected to reopen in early 2026, bringing back one of the campus’s most recognizable gathering spaces after years of closure tied to large-scale construction and underground infrastructure work. For students and alumni, the lawn’s return restores the familiar front-of-campus setting that framed daily life, assemblies, photos, and informal moments between classes.

The reopening of the Beverly Hills High School Grand Front Lawn is another clear sign that BHUSD is moving in the right direction. Our facilities projects are being delivered on time and on budget, our academic programs continue to meet the evolving needs of our students, and our athletics programs are experiencing renewed success, said BHUSD Board President Judy Manoucheri. I look forward to returning the BHHS Front Lawn back to our students, staff, and the broader Beverly Hills community later this month.

The reopening marks a milestone in a long, phased modernization of the high school campus that began more than a decade ago. The Grand Lawn at Beverly Hills High School, seen here in the mid-1950s, with the campus watchtower rising behind the front campus landscape.

The effort set out to update aging facilities while protecting the school’s original character, anchored by the 1928 main building and the open lawn that has long defined the campus’s public face. Design planning emphasized keeping the historic frontage intact while modernizing classrooms, utilities, safety systems, and shared spaces behind it.

Funding for the transformation came through voter-approved school bonds that supported seismic upgrades, system replacements, and new construction across the district. Over multiple phases, those funds enabled BHHS to replace outdated infrastructure, build new academic and arts facilities, and modernize athletic spaces, all while keeping the school operational during construction. The scale of the work reshaped how students learn and gather on campus, even as familiar landmarks were preserved.

As the project neared completion, several signature spaces returned to student use. The K.L. Peters Auditorium reopened in January 2026 after years offline, welcoming students back to a fully updated performance venue that blends modern technical capability with historic design. New and renovated academic buildings, updated courts and fields, and improved circulation across campus have also come online, restoring a sense of completeness to student life.

The Grand Lawn carries its own layer of history. During recent site work, crews uncovered a time capsule placed on campus in 1939, along with an engraved stone tied to a student honor group from the early years of the school. The discovery offered a rare physical link between generations of students and reinforced the idea that the lawn is more than landscaping. It is a place where the school’s memory lives. District leaders plan to preserve the historic artifact and include it as part of the lawn’s restored setting, while current students prepare a new time capsule to leave their own mark for the future.

When the Grand Lawn reopens, it will again serve as both a visual centerpiece and a practical commons for students, families, and the broader school community. The renewed space is designed to support everyday use while remaining a welcoming front door to campus. Its return reflects the broader goal of the modernization program: to give students contemporary facilities without losing the places that shaped the school’s identity for generations.

After years of construction fencing and detours, the reopening of the Grand Lawn signals a return to a more complete campus experience. For current students, it brings back a shared outdoor space that many have never known. For alumni and families, it restores a familiar view of Beverly Hills High School, renewed for a new era while still grounded in its past.