An aging building at Pinkerton Academy is set to be replaced by a new, three-story structure that will add classrooms and offer additional spaces to support other Pinkerton programs.

The new building will replace the high school’s aging social studies wing, which was built back in the 1970s and is showing its age, the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune reported.

Built in the early 1970s as a temporary building to meet the classroom needs of a growing student population, the structure has been used well beyond its projected life span, according to school officials.

The project is expected to cost approximately $20.7 million.

Powers said the new building will have half the footprint of the old one, and will include updated parking areas as well as better interior design to help students, staff and those visiting better navigate the building. More green space surrounding the building is an added feature.